The Long Way Home
by Dashel
Summary: A year after their prophesised battle Naruto and Sasuke meet up for the first time since then,coming to in a destroyed area of wood,no memory of how they got there,where 'there' is or if they can trust the other long enough to band together and get home.
1. The Day After Ch1

_**Dash General Warnings (Important, please read): **This is Yaoi. If you are still here I will also add that this fic will probably contain swearing and sex and all sorts of other goodies. Still here? Well this fic might also contain no predetermined roles in respect to sexual activities. Yep, I have to add this as a warning now. But what that means is that in my stories no one is ever solely uke or seme or batman or whatever predefined roles people might expect. Or they might be but I might not know who it will be from the beginning. Sometimes one person will top, sometimes the other will depending on my mood or where the story needs to go. Sometimes it will switch mid story if I feel like it. Please do not continue if you have preferences for either character and will be upset if whomever you expect to top doesn't. Generally not even I know who will do what at the very beginning of a fic and will decide as I go along. They may not swap at all, but I like to keep my options open and I do not want to make people read multiple chapters of my fic only to dislike the sex scenes._

_**Author's Notes: **I think at some point my warnings and notes are going to get so long they are bigger than the chapters themselves but bear with me. If you read the story I am assuming that you have read every single note beforehand as well. I also didn't mean to start posting this yet. But I'm sick at home, bored, have writer's block where RM and Only One are concerned and inspiration for this took me suddenly._

_This particular story is going to be my play around story. I am not going to endeavour to keep the story overtly canon, nor am I even going to keep the characters all that particularly IC. I am using this to stretch the bounds of what I can do with characters while still keeping them at heart themselves wherever possible. I want to use this fic to play with Naruto's sense of self and most importantly what he will do when finally allowed to have the sort of friendship with another person that he can be close to, bond with and not in the weird way he previously had with Sasuke which always seemed too stand offish for close personal friendship to me. I got it, I just didn't really understand the ensuing attachment. I'm also going to make him a little more touchy feely in later chapters which will seem a tad OOC. That said, I will also eventually mellow Sasuke's personality out a bit. I don't really need to explain how OOC this is. The only reason I am divulging this ahead of the game is that normally I try pretty hard to keep them both as IC as I feel is possible with my limited talents to do so. So hardcore IC Naruto and Sasuke fans might want to bow out now. No really. Basically I just want to have a bit of fun with the characters where I can spread the emotional drama out a lot more than I am used to in order to keep it a little lighter and not so angsty. That said if you are here for smut you might be waiting a while, I haven't even decided just how to progress their relationship yet or how far I might take it despite what I said in the above warning. I just post that up before all my fics now to discourage people who have very firm views about just who's dick is supposed to be stuck into whom in case I take it that far so I'm not getting little flame posts when people read ten chapters to find out it grosses them out. It's not fun for them or for me either. _

_Also I make very few promises on the rate of updates. Every time I update, I will update a new part and the chapters of that part (if more than one) in relatively rapid succession. A part might be one chapter long or three depending on however long I want to make it and each chapter of that part will be uploaded probably within a week of each other but each little part will, I hope, be conclusive enough it itself so that if you do have to wait a month or more between parts you will be not left hanging on a cliff by your fingernails waiting to find out what happens next. Clear as mud? Basically I will add parts as they come to me and the overall plot will be easy, straight forward and not something you will have to be reminded of with any great detail or really care too much about how it is going to be resolved. I might even do a quick recap before some parts if there is information from previous parts that might be necessary to remember just so I don't get people too confused._

_So now that you **are** all thoroughly confused I will assume I'm not going to get hate mail about OOCness, who tops who, if and when there will be smut or the regularity of updates. My ass is covered in steel :) This is just a bit of fun, intended only as a bit of fun so please check your serious caps here and furthermore, please enjoy :)_

_Dash._

_**Background/Summary: **If you must have a timeline reference, which I suppose will be somewhat important, this is after the war and after their prophesied battle with each other. Obviously they're both still alive and you'll find out later why. It's not that epic. I'm probably not going to go into details about how the war ended other than their fight because I couldn't be bothered thinking up elaborate war stories when it's ongoing in the manga right now. Plus, I'm not totally up to date at the time of writing this. So unless it becomes necessary, as far as this story is concerned, I don't really care all that much._

_So a year after their battle Naruto and Sasuke meet up again for the first time since that time, coming to consciousness in a destroyed area of wood, no one around but them, no memory of how they got there, where 'there' is exactly or even if they can trust one another. Oh and they're naked. Do they band together against a common foe to get home or start fighting all over again?_

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything about the Naruto manga or it's contents except for my own personal pleasure when reading them._

_**Rated**: MA cause of swearing, nudity, possible sex scenes, probable violence & my kink for water play. You'll understand when you get there ;) If you are under-aged, don't like that stuff or have a severe water phobia you might like to duck out now._

_This is dedicated to all those people I have long winded conversations with regarding character development, plot, real life or just those who have endured one of my epic rants. You know who you are :) You're tireless enthusiasm keeps me functioning._

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 1**

**The Day After**

**Chapter 1/1.**

Naruto woke to the feeling of a hot sun baking his face. He groaned, threw up a hand to shield himself from the unrelenting heat and attempted to open his eyes.

BIG MISTAKE.

The light seemed to sear his eyeballs and kept going through to his brain making him cry out softly and close his eyes quickly. So he lay there for a few moments more recovering before he attempted to sit up. He accomplished it but his joints protested painfully, his muscles seemed to be pulling against him and it took him a good few moments before he managed to get into a sitting position. He then attempted to get his eyes to adjust to the light by opening and closing them rapidly. His eyes watered badly for a few moments but eventually the light seemed less intense and he could take a bleary peek around his surroundings for the first time since waking up.

His vision was still taking a long time to focus though, so while his surroundings were resolving themselves into things more than just green globs and brown patches he took a moment to try and figure out what the hell might have happened to him.

As far as he could remember he'd gone to sleep last night in his bed in Konoha, tucked up tightly and comfortably and now…what? He was obviously outside, on the ground and oh yeah, naked.

What the fuck?

He was beginning now to see his surroundings a little more clearly. He was in a wood of some sort, nothing like you would see around Konoha, with tall trees surrounding the large clearing he was in. There was very little grass around and he found that what he had been sleeping in was mostly rocky dirt, some of which he could still feel on his back and through his hair.

He heard a muttered expletive behind him and he turned to see another person pushing themselves painfully off the ground, black hair hanging down over his face. And while Naruto's eyes struggled to make out the features of his surprise companion, his ears were also trying to figure out just where he'd heard that familiar voice before…

Naruto scrambled to his feet painfully, ignoring his body's protests at such a drastic action and got ready for a fight.

"Sasuke!"

Upon hearing his name, Sasuke looked up swiftly, blinking in the light just as Naruto had. When he managed to focus, he had pretty much the same reaction Naruto had only with different results. He tried to push himself to his feet but only got halfway before he dropped onto one knee and winced. His hand was groping for a weapon that wasn't there while he tried his best to keep his unsteady gaze on his enemy.

Meanwhile, seeing Sasuke's difficulties Naruto was frowning. Sasuke seemed to be in much the same shape as him, worse even because he'd only just woken while Naruto had been conscious for a good few minutes before he'd become aware of Sasuke. But still there was no one else around, who else could be responsible for this curious state of affairs?

"What did you do?"

For a moment Naruto thought his voice had echoed, but in fact it was Sasuke who'd asked the question at exactly the same moment as he.

"Me?" Naruto asked indignantly. "I didn't do anything! Last I remember I was in Konoha falling asleep in my own bed."

"You're lying," Sasuke accused harshly.

"No way!"

Sasuke finally managed to struggle to his feet and that was when Naruto remembered a little detail he'd almost forgotten about. He was stark naked. And the reason he had been reminded was because Sasuke was too. Being in this situation made his face go hot all of a sudden and he almost looked away from his old friend in embarrassment. But safety won out and he kept his eyes on the dangerous man in front of him in case he suddenly overcame his pain and decided to kill him or something.

Looking Sasuke over Naruto realised something else important, Sasuke was in pretty bad shape. Nothing major, but small cuts and bruises covered his body and it made Naruto look down at himself momentarily to see that he wasn't much better off either. Looking back toward Sasuke he put a hand to his neck to find the source of a stinging pain bought on by the movement of his head and felt broken skin under his fingers, where his skin had been burnt badly.

"Then if you aren't responsible, who is?" Sasuke asked eyeing him but making no attempt to attack just yet.

"Beats me. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Going to sleep, not here."

Sasuke stretched his back slightly and winced at some pain he found there.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked before he thought about it.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "What do you think, dobe?"

Well Sasuke seemed as pleasant as ever, but at least he hadn't attacked him yet. Sure that was most likely because at the moment he was probably incapable of such a feat but it gave Naruto a moment of relief anyway. The last thing he wanted was to have another showdown with Sasuke, especially not in some random unrecognisable forest gods knew where, naked and weaponless.

"You look terrible," Naruto told him bluntly. "What happened to you?"

Sasuke still hadn't attempted to get on his feet yet and looked in real pain. Perhaps he was worse off than Naruto after all because it hadn't taken this long for Naruto to recover enough to stand. Even half propped up as he was, sweat beaded his head. He looked flushed and more than a little nauseated.

"Isn't it obvious that I don't know," Sasuke snapped.

Sasuke glared at him but Naruto had to assume that he was in much the same boat. If Sasuke wasn't responsible for this, then he was a victim as well. But a victim of what exactly? Naruto hadn't seen Sasuke in almost a year and here they suddenly were together, probably very far from home and suffering the same weird memory loss.

On a spur of the moment, Naruto checked the skin of his upper arm to find a familiar looking cut staring back at him. He'd been hurt during his last mission which had only been two days prior to the last thing he remembered. The healing of the gash even with the Kyuubi's help, looked at most two or three days older than that again. That meant he might have been out of it for at least three days.

Wait, Kyuubi!

_"Are you there?" _Naruto asked turning his thoughts momentarily inward. He heard nothing, he couldn't even will himself to see inside his mind. He could still feel a vague hint of the familiar presence but it seemed somehow far away.

"_Hey I'm talking to you!" _

Nothing.

That wasn't a good sign. He had hoped the fox would be able to shed some light on his current situation. Though admittedly getting information out of Kurama was sometimes difficult anyway if the fox wasn't in a sharing mood.

"Has your brain finally shut down completely or is there a reason you're standing there with that moronic blank look on your face?" Sasuke asked after a moment finally pushing himself onto shaky feet.

"Just thinking," Naruto replied.

"Well that explains the look."

After that the two stood facing one another, both silent and looking at the other like neither of them knew what to do about each other. Curious circumstances aside, it was weird to be here with each other when they weren't actively trying to fight one another. But Sasuke still looked a little woozy and though his stance and expression clearly conveyed how unimpressed he was at their current predicament, he still seemed unlikely to attack any time soon. Naruto figured their truce would last only as long as it took Sasuke to recover enough to move. Then he would either attack or run off, neither of which Naruto wanted to happen. Actually he was even more afraid of the second option right now. For some reason the thought of Sasuke running off and leaving him gave him an odd sort panicked feeling. Being alone right now in a confusing situation was not something he wanted to happen. As much confidence as he had in his own abilities, having someone here with him was reassuring. Even if it was Sasuke. But of course he never used to like it when Sasuke ran off. Well maybe once.

"Do you think someone attacked us?" Naruto asked in the hope that it might make Sasuke rethink running off on his own. Of course Sasuke had made it clear many times in the past now that he did not consider Naruto an ally, but Sasuke also wasn't stupid. If someone had the power to take both him and Sasuke on individually, staying together would be the smart strategic thing to do right now.

"Well I didn't strip, cut myself up and then walk gods know how far on my own. I think I would remember doing that."

"Don't be such a dick! I'm trying to figure out what happened."

"Don't hurt yourself, dobe. The who and the why doesn't matter right now, only the where."

Sasuke was right he supposed. The current threat couldn't be that great considering their state when they had awoken. If someone wanted to do them harm they had plenty of opportunity while they were out of it.

Naruto looked around again with much clearer eyes and tried to figure out if anything about the surrounding landscape looked familiar but he gave up after only a few moments.

"I've never seen trees and plants like this before," Naruto told Sasuke. "Nothing looks familiar to me."

"Me neither," Sasuke admitted.

This was bad news. Naruto had no idea how much travelling Sasuke had done over the past few years, but Naruto himself had done plenty. If he didn't recognise the landscape, they were a really long way away from home.

Sasuke was eyeing one of the nearby trees like he was contemplating jumping up there to get a better view but was obviously reluctant. Sasuke would never openly show weakness to anyone if he could help it, but right now even standing upright looked like it was taking all his strength.

"Um, if I go up that tree to get some lay of the landscape, will you stay put?" Naruto asked him.

Sasuke nodded and starting looking around their little clearing and Naruto finally got the impression that Sasuke had calmed down a bit. He didn't look like he wanted to fight, he didn't look like he wanted to run, he looked if anything a little confused and disorientated.

So Naruto turned his back to him and jumped up toward the lowest branch of the closest tree and…missed. Well not missed so much as fell incredibly short of his target. He landed in the dirt at the base of the tree on his back with his wind knocked out and about six small stones imbedded in his back.

Sasuke's shadow fell over him. "Problems?"

Naruto sat up and glared up at the tree like it was its fault he had fallen. "That didn't work."

"Obviously."

He got painfully back to his feet and was about to jump again when he thought better about it. Maybe he was too injured to jump high like that. Maybe he'd be better off walking up the tree. But when he placed his foot against the trunk he felt no pull, nothing keeping him in place. And then he tried really hard not to panic.

"Sasuke, does your chakra seem to be um…not working in any way?"

Sasuke didn't respond at first and spent a few moments looking at his hand. Naruto figured he was trying to collect chakra in his palm but nothing seemed to be happening.

"This is bad," Naruto commented with wide eyes. "What the fuck happened to us?"

Sasuke seemed to be controlling his emotions better but looked a lot more wary all of a sudden. "Have you taken a good look around the clearing?"

Naruto shook his head. "Why?"

"Look now, and look closely."

Naruto did as instructed not really understanding what he was supposed to be seeing. It took him a while but eventually he started seeing tell tale signs of what Sasuke meant. Some of the trees looked a little blackened where they'd been scorched, stumps stuck up out of the ground here and there with wood chunks littering the ground. The dirt under his feet look like it had been disturbed greatly. Naruto started to get the distinct impression that this hadn't been a proper or large clearing before what had happened here had…well, happened.

"An explosion?"

"Hn."

"That…doesn't explain anything. Why is our chakra gone, where the hell are we and why the fuck are we naked?"

"I saw some fresh tracks, a few people heading off in that direction," Sasuke told him gesturing. "It might be whoever did this. Or whoever robbed us afterwards."

"Seriously?"

Sasuke shrugged. "It's better than nothing. I want my clothes back and then I'm leaving."

"Sasuke, wait!"

Sasuke turned his back and Naruto grabbed his shoulder. Even though the Uchiha was having trouble moving he still managed to turn with his fist ready and hit Naruto with enough strength to snap his head sideways. Before thinking about it, and being that this was Sasuke and having the thought always in the back of his mind that Sasuke may choose to attack him at any moment, he automatically hit him back with more than enough force to land Sasuke on his ass in the dirt.

Sasuke was quick to get back onto his feet but Naruto had already begun regretting hitting him back. Not because he didn't deserve it, this was Sasuke after all, but because it wasn't going to help matters by starting a fight.

"Stop! We should stick together."

"Why?" Sasuke asked darkly, wiping blood off his lip with the back of his hand.

"Because we're obviously in this together. Whatever happened to us happened to _both_ of us. We don't have our chakra and it's gone for who knows how long and someone is obviously out to get us. Sticking together right now is out best chance!"

"You want a truce."

"Well, yeah. C'mon Sasuke, I know you don't like me much but at least you know you can trust me. Right?"

Sasuke watched him for a few moments frowning. "I don't need you."

Naruto forced a grin at the harsh words. Sasuke might not realise just how much that comment had hurt. Or he had and didn't care.

"You always need me, you just don't know it sometimes till it's almost too late. Though even then I guess you don't even realise it. But Sasuke I-"

"Fine, just shut up already. If you mention one word about Konoha though, I'll hit you again," he warned.

Naruto didn't think now was a great time to point just out who had just ended up in the dirt. He saw his win so he took it and nodded.

"Lead on."

* * *

The first thing Naruto noticed about their environment was how hot it was. The sun beat down on them relentlessly as they walked making them both sweat profusely. Being naked didn't help much, actually it probably made things worse. Sasuke was walking ahead of him, head bent against the glare and careful to follow the tracks on the ground in front of him. Naruto could see how red the skin on his shoulders and back was getting and he wondered if the sun was burning him. Naruto wasn't burning yet but he was a bit more tan that Sasuke and wouldn't suffer at all if they got the chance to cover up soon.

Not that Naruto spent much time looking at Sasuke, his old comrade was naked which made it seem wrong to look too closely. He did see enough though to feel a little bit of old annoyance creep back that he'd thought long forgotten by this point.

No matter how many years they spent apart, growing older had certainly been kind to Sasuke. They were eighteen now and Sasuke's body was all pale skin, long legs, perfect tone and well defined angles. Bastard. Did he always have to look so perfect? Why couldn't aging have given him a big nose, a little sag here and there, for fuck's sake why not even a pimple? But his skin was clear, his nose perfect and his body completely and utterly…

"Tight."

He hadn't realised it, but Sasuke had been talking to him so he'd unwittingly just blurted out the last word he'd been thinking of.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto went red from more than the sun. "Um. Nothing. What were you saying?"

Sasuke gave him an odd look. "We're close. I can smell a fire and food cooking."

Now that Naruto's attention had been drawn to it, he could smell it too. Embarrassingly it made his stomach rumble really loudly.

Naruto smiled and scratched the back of his head to try to cover up his awkwardness. "Guess it's been a while since I ate."

Sasuke sighed. "Whatever, follow me and try to be quiet."

They snuck silently forward through the bushes until they came upon a campsite. There were five men altogether sitting around and talking, passing a green bottle around and each taking a turn swigging from the contents. All the men looked dirty and down on their luck except for the one wearing the bright orange and black jacket. At least his new jacket didn't look like it had begun to rot on his body like the clothes the others were wearing. Naruto noticed how bad his jacket looked though. It was torn and scorched in a few places and he was pretty sure it must have been that way when the robbers had pried it off his body. It made him wonder yet again just what had happened to him and Sasuke and how the hell they had survived with as few injuries as they had.

What was possibly a little more disturbing was the expression on Sasuke's face as he turned back to Naruto, motioning to toward the three men sitting together on one side of the fire and then at Naruto. The message was clear and even clearer still when Sasuke ran his finger across his throat to indicate just what he expected Naruto to do to them. Sasuke's face was calm but his dark eyes shone with an enthusiasm that made Naruto incredibly uneasy.

Naruto shook his head.

Sasuke looked confused for a moment so Naruto made it clearer for him. Copying the same 'kill them' signal as Sasuke had done and then shaking his head more emphatically. These men might have robbed them, stripped them down and left them unconscious in a clearing but as far as Naruto knew they hadn't hurt either of them and even though they had the opportunity, hadn't taken the chance to kill them either.

Sasuke gave him his best 'don't be stupid' look, but Naruto was adamant. He wasn't rebelling against the idea of attacking and taking back their stuff, so he tried everything he could think of to silently convey to Sasuke that they should knock them out rather than kill them. As Sasuke watched him, working out Naruto's sometimes wild gestures, his expression grew less and less impressed by the second. But eventually he seemed to think it through and still nodded despite his very apparent disagreement.

Naruto sighed in relief and left Sasuke to circle around behind the men he was supposed to be dealing with and trying to think up a plan of attack. When he was ready he waited a few more seconds to make sure Sasuke would be in position too and stood up and stepped out of the bushes, holding up his hands to focus his chakra.

"Multi Shadow…" Then he remembered and felt very stupid. All of the men had turned to watch him and he grinned at them nervously.

"Oh yeah, can't do that."

So instead he kicked the closest man in the face, stepped in and hit one that was just rising to face him, moved in, turned and elbowed the third in his midsection whooshing his sour breath out and dropping him into the dirt. Naruto turned to see if any of them had gotten up yet and were going to attack him but mostly they were just clutching their faces, trying to breathe or completely out for the count.

Sasuke stood on the other side of the fire, three unconscious men at his feet, a knife – wherever that had come from – clasped loosely in his hand and a 'you're such a moron' look on his face.

"I forgot for a second, okay?" Naruto told him defensively. Then in a softer tone, "Ne Sasuke, you didn't kill 'em did you?"

"They'll live. Search for our stuff."

Together they turned the little campsite inside out looking for their things but didn't have all that much luck. In a bag Naruto found his tee-shirt, Sasuke's shoes and his own head protector minus the cloth headband part but that was all. None of their weapons, neither of their pants and Naruto's shoes were missing not to mention their money.

"Maybe they ditched the stuff that didn't fit them," Naruto wondered out loud as Sasuke casually knocked out one of Naruto's groaning victims with his heel to their head. "And you know we might ask them if you'd stop knocking them out."

"My katana is a valuable weapon," Sasuke reminded him. "Nobody would 'ditch' it. It's possible they weren't the first ones to find us."

Naruto looked around. "You think there's that many people in this wilderness that would pick the clothes off unconscious people?"

"They might have thought we were dead."

"Then they weren't looking really hard, were they?"

"Look at these men," Sasuke started pointedly. "I think we were lucky they didn't pry the teeth out of our heads. These men are scavengers. I've seen this in areas before. We should find a big town not too far away and probably a lot of unfriendly people between us and it."

"I don't get it."

"People come out of the city, bandits rob them, probably kill them, and then these bands of scavengers pick through whatever is left over. It happens."

"Not around Konoha!"

"'Course not you idiot. What robber in their right mind would steal from people or kill them so close to a large ninja stronghold? But it happens near large towns with little to no ninja bases often enough."

"That's awful!"

"That's life," Sasuke said shrugging like he didn't care. "There were more than five sets of tracks around where we woke up, but these were the only ones that left us a steady trail. I doubt we will catch up with the other thieves now."

"Well at least there are other clothes," Naruto muttered upending the bag he was looking through.

It was true enough, these scavengers might not have the richest haul in their inventory but it did consist of a lot of clothes, worthless jewellery and other assorted junk. He decided not to retrieve his jacket for two reasons. One, it was pretty ruined and ripped and two, because the guy that was wearing it smelt like he'd been swimming in a latrine.

Wherever they were, the clothes tended to be of a brown to beige colouring and the pair of them sorted through the bags until they found something that would fit them.

Naruto mouth twisted as he pulled on a pair of brown pants. "These were probably taken off a dead person, right?"

Sasuke looked over at him as he pulled his own beige pants on. "Um, probably not."

"How can you tell?"

"Because they're clean."

Naruto told himself that Sasuke was talking about blood. He _really_ hoped Sasuke was talking about blood.

He put his own black tee-shirt on and waited for Sasuke to put his shoes on and find a shirt to wear. They hadn't been able to find Naruto any shoes, anything they found were way too small or way too big. He could have made do and saved the soles of his feet some pain by wearing them but he didn't like the idea of such shoes hampering his movements should the need arise to defend himself suddenly. He couldn't totally rely on the fact that Sasuke would protect him while he kicked ill fitting shoes off so he could fight and not trip over.

While he waited he went through a few more junk bags, just in case he missed something from before. He upended one bag that he'd previously ransacked, shaking it out. A small orb about the size of an eyeball dropped into the clothes littering the ground. Curiously, Naruto picked it up and rolled in around in his hand. It was a pretty thing, pearl like in colouring but marbled like granite. Multi-coloured flecks in the surface caught the fading like and sparkled. It felt very heavy as he weighted it in his hand.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked coming up to stand behind him, tying on a dark green short sleeved shirt he'd found that wrapped around him and tied up at the side.

"I dunno," Naruto said turning his hand this way and that. "Do you think it's valuable?"

"I've never seen anything like it before," Sasuke admitted. "Pretty, but I doubt it's worth much if these monkeys had it."

Sasuke was probably right but Naruto still slipped it into his pocket along with the metal plate of his Konoha headband as he stood up. "Okay so, what now?"

"I suggest we find this town and then a map. These men had a little money on them so at least we might find some food and… why are you looking at me like that?"

Naruto grinned. "You said 'we'. I guess this means you _do _want to stick together."

Sasuke looked annoyed. "Weren't you the one insisting we stick together?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd still want to after we found these guys."

Sasuke looked around at the men Naruto had downed, the one he had hit with his fist only just starting to come around again. "You're not completely useless," Sasuke begrudgingly admitted. "What you said makes sense. At least until we get back to somewhere familiar."

Naruto's grin widened. "Thanks. You're not so useless yourself. You're not gonna regret this, believe it!"

Sasuke scowled and turned away. "Really, because I think I already am."

TBC in Part 2.

* * *

_Notes: Well, not my usual angst fest that's for sure. See light and happy. Sort of. Well for now at least, who knows though, I do love to torture characters so *grins*. But you might have noticed already what I am doing with the characters. It has been called to my attention that I don't make Naruto a strong enough character so I'm attempting to give him slightly less of a doormat attitude. Of course he's always been a bit of a sucker where Sasuke is concerned which is something I am also trying to preserve and I'm not completely sure how the mesh is working. Also this Sasuke is less psychopath than canon character might dictate as well, but he's also a little older and the war is over so I wanted to mellow him out a little more which was only very slight in this Part but will become more apparent as time goes on. Anyway, let me know what you think about my tweaks, but remember I am aware I might have made them a little OOC as well. Naruto should have probably not been so accepting of Sasuke but remember that there is a story there with their fight that I haven't really touched on yet that might make Naruto a little more amendable to Sasuke's presence so bear that in mind._

_Well anyway, so this was Part 1 for the series. Part 2 will get posted whenever I get inspired. No promises as to when but already I have some ideas for it if that's any comfort. It'll be nice to have an ongoing fic that I can come back to and add things as I get inspired instead of pushing on through big heavy chunks of plot in multi-chaptered monsters for a change. Not that I won't still probably do that, but just not with this. Anyway, I know I left Part 1 a little open when I said each part will have a sort of conclusion to it, but this was the first one and really all I wanted to do was introduce to overall plot for the fic and conclude that they would be sticking together through their travels. Part 2 should have it's own little mini story which will get concluded so we can move onto the next one in Part 3. The overall plot, them getting home will feature in all the stories working as their main goal behind every they do or all the little dilemmas they find themselves in but exactly what happened to them to get them here will not be seriously touched upon for quite some time. Anyway, I hoped you liked the introduction and that you will be looking forward to Part 2. _

_Dash._


	2. First Impressions Ch1

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 2**

**First Impressions**

**Chapter 1/2**

It had been only three days since waking up in the clearing but time seemed to pass slowly for Sasuke.

No matter how hungry they might have been when they had raided the scavenger camp, they hadn't taken much food away with them. The men had looked pretty skinny and so hopeless that Naruto, soft idiot that he was, had taken pity on them and not wanted to take all their food. Not that there was much to take. A few pieces of stale bread and some biscuits but nothing very sustaining. Whatever weird meaty stew they'd had cooking over their campfire had smelt sort of okay but looked revolting. Neither of them had touched it.

Hunting for their own food was harder than Sasuke remembered it ever being mostly due to the fact that he couldn't use chakra and had to rely on his own quickness and cunning. Which would have been okay had they had any means to set up snares or traps but they didn't so their bellies were a little emptier than either one of them would have preferred right now. Almost all the local vegetation was unfamiliar as well and neither one of them wanted to risk sickness should they eat the wrong berry. Well Sasuke didn't and although Naruto had been more than willing to act as guinea pig, his willingness had faded pretty quickly when Sasuke told him that if he poisoned himself, he, Sasuke, would leave him in the woods to suffer rather than carry him.

On a more optimistic note they had gotten news from a passing traveller who had given them directions towards the town Sasuke knew had to be near on their second day after waking and if luck held they would arrive there just after nightfall tomorrow. This news made him happier for a few reasons. Firstly, they might be able to get their hands on a map and work out just where they were. Secondly, they could find some food and maybe a bed for the night. Thirdly, and most importantly, Naruto was starting to wear on his nerves and he needed something new to distract him before he strangled the dobe.

Admittedly, it hadn't been too bad at first. No matter how much Sasuke belittled him, Naruto was still a formidable fighter even without his chakra and Sasuke could depend on him to hold up his end of a fight without having to worry as evidenced by their very minor scuffle in the scavenger camp. It was a change from the earlier days in team 7 that was for sure. But even then Naruto had been more or less reliable he supposed in a distinctly Naruto sort of never-give-up way.

He had also been reliable as far as hunting and travelling was concerned. He took his turn to hunt even if he wasn't very good at it and never whined or complained about how far they travelled or the terrain they travelled on. This was surprising considering he had no shoes and Sasuke had already seen the damage being done to his feet. Naruto didn't pick where to place his feet, he hardly ever looked at the ground while he walked which ended up with his stepping on any twig, stone or insect that came under his feet and generally hurting himself because of it. And it was useless to keep berating him for not looking where he was going because Naruto just wasn't used to having to do it. Normally he'd wear shoes and normally with chakra he would have used the trees to get around when travelling in such long distances. So Sasuke kept his haranguing down to a minimum as far as that was concerned. But his main problem, the constant optimistic chatter, still managed to annoy him.

The people Sasuke usually associated himself with when necessary were generally a dark silent lot who probably found it easier to murder their companions than make small talk with them. Sasuke enjoyed the silence, and he was more used to travelling on his own anyway that suddenly being back in such close proximity to Naruto and his inexhaustible supply of stories and idle chatter grated on his nerves. In fact just about every noise the dobe made seemed aimed to annoy him from his loud and pervading snoring of a night to his happy cheerful voice of a day. Sasuke couldn't understand how someone in their situation could find any reason to be cheery, but then Sasuke had always had a hard time trying to understand Naruto. Probably, admittedly, because he'd never tried.

His favourite part of the day had become late afternoon, just as it was now, when the dying light of the sun cast long shadows through the trees making the air cooler and Naruto a little more travel tired and therefore unwilling to keep up his running dialogue with same amount of gusto as before. That's when Sasuke's mind ran clearer without distractions, his body got a chance to cool off and the presence of his thankfully now silent companion was oddly reassuring as he kept pace with Sasuke only faltering slightly when stepping on the odd sharp object or twenty.

This particular night, after picking a spot to camp for the night, Sasuke left Naruto and went out hunting. He was in luck and managed to hit a rabbit with his knife. He cleaned the kill and came back into the camp to find Naruto sitting cross-legged in front of their campfire, eyes closed and concentrating fiercely. It wasn't the first time he'd found Naruto this way, he doubted it would be the last.

"I think if you were going to be able to draw in nature energy you would have done it by now," Sasuke told him setting about securing his catch to a makeshift spit.

"Yeah I know. I wasn't trying to do that. I gave up an hour ago."

"The fox?" Sasuke asked raising an eyebrow. He'd thought Naruto had given up on that too.

"Yeah, I know he's there. It's like someone is standing right behind you, you can feel their presence like a breath on the back of your neck. But then you turn around and there's nothing there." Naruto opened his eyes, put his head into his hand and sighed. "I really wish you could take a look to see what's going on."

This was a sore spot for Sasuke. His Sharingan wasn't working and he couldn't even get it to activate let alone actually use it. If it had been working he might have been able to see inside them and figure out what was wrong.

"It's _your_ pet, you find it."

"I wouldn't call him a pet," Naruto told him wincing slightly.

"A parasite then."

"Ah I think he'd use the term 'prisoner'."

"Whatever."

"I did manage to draw in a bit of nature energy though," Naruto said in an annoyingly off-handed matter. Why didn't he say anything sooner? This was a huge deal!

"But I lost it before I could do anything. It was like trying to hold onto smoke," Naruto continued grasping at random cloud of smoke rising from the campfire.

Really it was pretty amazing that one person had so many different forms of power to rely on and perhaps a touch scary that every one of them had been essentially taken away from him all at the same time.

"Moron."

"Bite me Sasuke, at least I'm trying."

Since Sasuke had failed to activate his Sharingan he hadn't tried to use his chakra again. He knew it was still gone and trying felt like failing. He'd rather just concentrate on what he _could_ do. Besides even though he could normally turn the Sharingan on at will, sometimes his body would just react unconsciously depending on the situation. But because it wouldn't activate now, every time it even _tried_ to activate he got a sharp pain behind his eyes that made his vision blurry for a few seconds. He hadn't even known it was because of his Sharingan until they'd heard a noise on the trail behind them and Naruto had seen his eyes change colour for a second just before the pain had hit him. When Naruto had told him what he'd seen he'd known he would have to train his body to not react to things like that anymore. He didn't want to get into a fight just to have his eyes tear up and be unable to focus on anything. He figured not trying to actively use his chakra at all might help him with this as well.

"I think you mean 'failing'," Sasuke corrected putting his newly made rabbit spit over the fire.

"You don't have to be so…" then Naruto looked up and his eyes widened. "Sasuke, watch out!"

Naruto bounded across the fire, grabbed Sasuke's shirt and attempted to roll him away to the right. Sasuke had seen the danger just as Naruto had called out to him but had been surprised when Naruto had moved to save him. Their roll stopped with Naruto lying over him, protecting Sasuke's body with his own but Sasuke managed to get an arm free just in time to receive the snakebite on his forearm before it bit the body on top of him.

Sasuke first pushed a horrified Naruto off him then sat up and grabbed the snake behind its head while it pumped him full of venom. When the snake let go of his arm he killed it quickly and threw it in front of the campfire casually. One thing was for sure; they would both eat well tonight.

"Sasuke, I was trying to _stop_ it from biting you!" Naruto exclaimed getting to his feet and moving around to Sasuke's injured arm to take a look at the wound.

"What by letting it bite you instead? That's less saving me and more killing yourself. It was also stupid."

Naruto sank to his knees next to Sasuke and grabbed his arm, bringing it up to his lips like he was about to suck out the poison. Sasuke stopped him with a hand on his forehead.

"It won't kill me dobe. Let's just say I'm venom proof."

Naruto halted, his mouth inches away from the twin punctures on Sasuke's arm. "Orochimaru?" he asked with a wince.

Sasuke nodded.

"You can't be venom proof to every single snake in the world."

"I would be very surprised if I wasn't."

"But it'll make you feel sick right?"

"A little maybe. Depends on the snake."

And before Sasuke could stop him again, Naruto lent forward and put his lips neatly around the wound, sucking and then spitting out it out into the fire.

"Moron!" Sasuke exclaimed pushing him away. "You can still get poisoned that way. Why do you care so much if I get a little sick?"

Naruto looked up at him from where he'd landed on his ass, wiping Sasuke's blood from his lips. "I guess I just do," he replied softly before he recovered from his slip up by getting angry instead. "You're such an ungrateful bastard, you know that!?"

"Like I really care," Sasuke replied dismissively. "Don't fawn all over me like I'm an invalid or something."

"Don't worry, I'm not one of your moon-eyed groupies, teme," Naruto replied savagely getting up and wincing.

Sasuke sighed, "What have you stepped on now?"

"Why do you care so much if a get a little cut?" Naruto retorted smugly.

"Don't be a child. Sit down."

"Make me."

So Sasuke grabbed his ankle and pulled. Naruto landed for a second time in the dirt and Sasuke swivelled 'round and picked up one of Naruto's feet to inspect. As he'd pretty much figured Naruto had stood on a particularly sharp stone that had cut into the arch on his foot.

"Stop moving," Sasuke ordered when Naruto tried to jerk his leg away. "Your feet are filthy," he remarked as he picked the stone free and changed to the other foot to inspect that one too.

"I've been walking on them, genius."

"Wear my shoes tomorrow, give your feet a rest."

Naruto gave him a weird look like he'd just spontaneously grown another head.

"Don't confuse 'nice' with 'practical'," Sasuke told the look. "You're useless to me if you can't walk. You don't seem to be healing any faster than me with the demon on holiday. You can't shrug off injury like you used to."

"Yeah, yeah, I-"

And then Naruto's foot jerked and he fell onto his back laughing. "Stop, Sasuke, stop!"

Sasuke's hands stilled inches from pulling out a fair sized sliver of wood. Naruto stopped laughing and propped himself up on his elbows.

"Please let my foot go now."

"Ticklish?" Sasuke asked in surprise.

"Apparently. Just let go, okay?"

Sasuke wondered what 'apparently' had meant. How could you not know if your feet were ticklish? When he was little his older brother had managed to find just about every ticklish part on his body just so he could randomly attack him when he felt his little brother was being a pain or just sometimes to see him laugh.

But of course, Naruto didn't have any siblings, no parents and probably wasn't into tickling matches with his friends. He wasn't quite sure in that second whether his following feeling of melancholia was because he'd thought of Itachi, his family or the fact that Naruto had never had one to begin with.

"I want to get this bit of wood out before it gets infected. Don't move and try to cope. It's a wonder the pain still allows you to feel ticklish."

Naruto didn't look happy but nodded. He was on his back again in seconds trying really hard not to laugh and even harder to keep still. When Sasuke was done he flicked his finger across the bottom of Naruto's foot for good measure and then let go.

"You did that last one on purpose, asshole," Naruto accused sitting up and wiping tears from his eyes.

Sasuke smirked at him. "You're such an ungrateful bastard, you know that?" he mimicked mockingly.

But it only caused Naruto to smile just before his stomach rumbled loudly. He must have smelt that the rabbit was close to being done.

"I sure wont be ungrateful on a full stomach. Let's eat!"

* * *

As it turned out, Sasuke's estimation on when they would arrive at the town was a little pessimistic. They beat nightfall by a full three hours though they did have to walk around till they found a gate in the massive wooden wall that surrounded the town. But now that they had found one, they were eyeing off the gate guards as they checked papers presented to them by every single person that walked in through those gates.

"We could say we got robbed, that's true enough," Naruto suggested.

"That could lead to a lot of questions," Sasuke responded.

"What's the worst they could do?"

Without looking, Sasuke pointed up toward the high walls around the gates. He'd seen the staked corpses before they'd stopped just off the road leading to the gates but apparently Naruto had missed it.

"Oh," Naruto said softly.

Not that Sasuke assumed failure to present papers might lead to a possible staking, and even if it did he figured they could fight their way through the three gate guards without breaking a sweat but assuming things was a bad habit to get into in places like this. A place like this obviously enjoyed drastic punishment and a lot to judge by the amount of bodies displayed. Plus they also seem to like reminding visitors coming into their city about these drastic punishments.

So Sasuke instead took advantage of the daylight to look at the wall surrounding the city. For two ninja, these walls were like a small stone to step over. But without chakra it would be a difficult climb with very few handholds.

"Why are we so desperate to get into this place again?" Naruto asked.

"Maps, mainly," Sasuke replied.

The person they had encountered that gave them directions to the city hadn't heard of Konoha. More distressingly he hadn't heard of the five great nations either which made getting their hands on a map all the more necessary. Without even the vaguest idea of which direction to walk in they might end up walking for weeks the wrong way without knowing it. Sasuke hated wasting his time like that.

"Medicine for our wounds wouldn't go astray either," Sasuke added thoughtfully, watching a traveller as they left the town and walked down the road towards him. His eyes narrowed on the man but his concentration was completely broken when Naruto placed a warning hand on his shoulder.

"We aren't robbing people for their papers," Naruto told him firmly.

"Borrowing," Sasuke corrected.

"I don't care what you call it to tell yourself it's okay. We're not doing it."

"What kind of a ninja are you?" Sasuke questioned sharply. "No wait, don't bother answering that. Besides, just because you say 'no' doesn't mean I won't do whatever the hell I want anyway."

Naruto seemed to realise he had a good point and looked wary all of a sudden. "If you think they'd stake us to the wall for not having papers, imagine what they might do if they think we have stolen papers."

"You're giving gate guards a lot of credit," Sasuke told him sneeringly.

"And as usual, you're not giving anyone any credit. Lots of things can go wrong with your plan, we're better off sneaking in."

"How? Are you going to wait for the walls to rot? I'm a good climber but even that wall looks tricky to me and it's a far way to fall if you slip."

"Wasn't thinking about climbing," Naruto said with a grin. "C'mon let's find somewhere to hide till nightfall."

* * *

Just after dark there was a cry that went up around the guards on the north wall. Soon after, thick columns of smoke could be seen blotting out the torches across the wall. The gate guards who were just getting ready to close up the gates for the night heard the yell of "Fire! Fire!" and since the gates were almost closed ran off to see if they could help putting out the blaze. Their walls had been treated to help stop it burning but it didn't make them fire proof and if part of the wall went up in smoke it would start to endanger a lot of houses too.

Just before the gates closed completely, two figures slipped inside, masked by the shadows and their own silence. Nobody seemed to be around to spot them, the gates themselves being pulled closed by oxen and not men. The two shadows flittered across the square and disappeared between the buildings.

* * *

Credit where credit was due, it hadn't been a bad plan. People leaving the city never seemed to get their papers checked so it wasn't even like they were trapped in here either. Sasuke just hoped that the gates were the only place they did want to see your papers.

Considering it was after night had fallen there were no shops open so maps, shoes and medicine would have to wait till the next day. Instead they sought out some hot food and a place to stay. The food as it turned out was meat, and a lot of it. Back in Konoha, beef was a little on the pricey side, a treat. Here big chunks of meat were sold at just about every food shop for a couple of coins only. Naruto sat by Sasuke at a counter eatery happily ripping hunks of meat off the bone with juice dripping off his chin.

"You're going to make yourself sick," Sasuke warned him disdainfully.

"Don't care. Too hungry," Naruto replied in between big bites.

After dinner they sought out the cheapest hotel they could find which unfortunately wasn't quite cheap enough to afford them a room each if they wanted to try and conserve what little money they'd taken from the scavengers.

But Sasuke hadn't really expected much different and asked for one room instead. He'd been sleeping out in the wilderness with the dobe for a few nights now so if he had to do it here too he could at least find some comfort in being able to bathe and have a bed to help him cope.

For some reason though the manager seemed to have a bit of difficulty with the request.

"You just want one room, for two people?"

It was the third time he had asked and Sasuke was doing all he could not to completely lose his cool at the man.

"Yes."

"But you're both ah…"

"Tired," Sasuke cut in a little more sharply.

"But aren't you…worried?" The man asked in a low voice. "It's unseemly and the violence it could cause…"

Sasuke was about to make some offhand remark about losing his will to actually smother Naruto to stop his snoring after the second night of sleeping near him but stopped himself. This man seemed _really_ agitated about something and not because he feared violence between his two guests happening in his rooms. What possible problem could he have with two men sharing a room for the…

Sasuke frowned. "You're joking with me, right?"

"Um, what's going on?" Naruto asked.

"Even if I did bring him to a cheap inn with the sole intention of fucking his brains out, why should that be any of your business?" Sasuke hissed at the man darkly.

Naruto managed not to laugh or punch him for the comment, but he looked plenty pale anyway. Thankfully though he stayed quiet.

Most people shrunk away from Sasuke when he was angry and this man was no exception. He looked quite fearful. "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"About the laws. You must be travellers. Look you two aren't really going to um…"

"No, we're definitely not going to 'um'," Naruto told the man decisively but also a shade desperately too. "My brother and I just don't know the local laws, that's all. We've travelled a long way."

"Brothers?" the manager asked hopefully before allowing himself to smile a little. "Well that's a bit different. You must understand you don't really look alike."

"Different mothers," Sasuke explained shortly. "We didn't realise we had to give you our life story just to share a room."

Sasuke couldn't be sure but the man seemed on the verge of asking for their papers as some kind of proof but the look on Sasuke's face warned him not to hassle them any more than he already had.

"Well if you're interested, there is a copy of the codes in every room for visiting guests. Not that we get, well, anybody really who don't already know. I'll just ah, go get your key."

Up in their room the first thing Sasuke did was fill up the tub to soak his feet in warm water. His feet were a little on the sore side from going barefoot through the woods all day and he figured a good soak would do them good.

He was sitting on the edge of the tub, thumbing through the code book when Naruto came in and joined him, sitting on the edge beside him and easing his feet into the tub with a long drawn out sigh. Sasuke's own feet had already made the water grey, Naruto's made it go almost black.

Sasuke gave him an unimpressed look.

"They hurt okay?" Naruto told him defensively. "Besides, I want to know what these laws are."

Sasuke turned his eyes back to the little codebook he was holding. "Well I think I found the one that the manager thought we were about to break. Apparently it's illegal to have sex before marriage in this country."

"Okay, so that's really harsh. But why did he assume that…"

"Dobe, use your brain. We're both seventeen but could easily be mistaken for twenty which fine, where we come from it isn't that old and most people our age aren't married. But then if you lived in a country where you needed to marry someone before you could have sex with them you might imagine that people would get married a lot younger even than we appear to be now. The chance that we are two unmarried men who just happen to want to share a room seems odd. Plus there is also a law that states only a man and a woman can get married."

Sasuke could almost see this one being worked out behind those open but confused blue eyes. Eventually Naruto frowned. "So because we weren't wearing rings or whatever the local thing is and we're old enough to want to be married but instead are hanging out in the same room as each other the guy assumed we were…" And that's when Naruto's eyes bugged out. It was pretty amusing.

"Not interested in getting married," Sasuke finished slowly and diplomatically.

"That's so wrong!" Naruto exclaimed.

"What, I'm not good enough?" Sasuke teased. He didn't know what came over him; Naruto's outrage was almost comical.

"That's not what I mean," Naruto clarified.

"So I _am_ good enough?"

"Sasuke, shut up! That's not what I was…wait, are you actually making a joke?"

"Well I'm certainly not propositioning you."

A slow smile crept over Naruto's face. "You made a joke. And it didn't sound sarcastic or mean or anything!"

"It can happen."

"Since when?"

Sasuke sighed, "You were saying?"

"Oh right, well the whole thing just sucks. What happened to free will?"

"I don't think it exists here," Sasuke replied flipping through the book. "It's not just marriage they're really strict about and just about everything seems to incur the same punishment."

"Staking?"

"It's hard to say. It just says here that: 'you can be held at the local field office for questioning for an unspecified amount of time of which is to be decided at the discretion of the arresting soldier.' It doesn't talk about fines or even being released. It doesn't even talk about extended imprisonment. I just assume that if you live through the beatings they give you, that's when you get the spike."

Naruto swallowed thickly. "So just what do we have to watch out for?"

"Well for a start I guess we'll have to forgo the sex," Sasuke began.

"Teme!"

"Apart from that it's mostly common sense stuff. Anything that was frowned upon in the five nations is still considered a crime here. Though there are a few odd social things we might have to watch out for."

"Like?"

"Don't meet the eyes of a high born, don't get caught sleeping in public spaces, don't wear bright colours on the last day of the week…"

"Seriously?"

Sasuke nodded and continued. "Don't fight, don't spit, don't congregate in groups of more than ten people and the list goes on. Oh and by the way, apparently it is illegal to own rodents inside the townships."

"This country is crazy."

"I concur. I also think we should leave it as soon as possible," Sasuke agreed closing the book with a snap.

_TBC_

* * *

_Notes: Okay so they're bonding…well sort of. I don't know if I will make this a common theme of switching POV for each part or not. Depends who I think would be the more interesting perspective at the time. I just did this from Sasuke's POV without thinking this time which was good since we didn't get his thoughts last time. I will be honest, this isn't going to be a really long Part and won't have a lot of drama. I really should have made Part 1, 3 chapters long in the first place but like I said, I post when inspired so just think of part 2 as an addition to part 1 when we just get a better feel for their situation and their take on each other. Next chapter they'll spend in the city and plot their route home. Once that is done I will be free to really start on their journey in Part 3. Anyway, this was only chapter 1 of 2 so you can expect the next chapter within the week._

_ Unsigned Reviews:_

_ Envyyyy – Thanks, happy you enjoyed part 1, hope you enjoy part 2 as well :)_

_ CharmedLuna – Thank you! *smiles*_


	3. First Impressions Ch2

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 2**

**First Impressions**

**Chapter 2/2**

Despite the snoring Sasuke managed a full night of sleep for the first time since waking up in the clearing and felt a lot better because of it. Of course Naruto's normal exuberance was also hitting high gear after his rest last night too and he seemed strangely fixated on the codebook and the laws of the country in the light of a new day. He spent the entire morning reading out laws and going on about how unfair and stupid it was. Even when Sasuke escaped into the bathroom to bathe Naruto followed him with his nose in the book and an unbelieving look on his face. Sasuke had never seen the dobe take such an interest in any book before.

But he had just been relaxing in the tub when Naruto had wandered in and sat on the floor.

"Teme, did you read the one about making it illegal to open restaurants, pubs or clubs that seats more than eight people at a time?"

Sasuke glared at the intrusion. "Do you mind?"

Naruto looked up at him and blinked. "What?"

"Haven't you heard of privacy?"

"But this is terrible!" Naruto exclaimed gesturing with the codebook.

"And it will remain terrible whether you bug me while I'm in the bath or not!" Sasuke shot back.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I've seen you naked, I don't know what the big deal is. It's just you."

For a moment Sasuke wasn't sure he had heard that right. Never in his whole life had someone been so dismissive of him.

"So because it's 'just me' makes it okay for you to just walk in and annoy me whenever you wish?" Sasuke asked sharply.

Naruto looked at him confused for a moment, like somehow Sasuke had missed the point. "Well yeah. You get annoyed with me no matter when I talk to you."

"You have the _gift_ of annoying me," Sasuke told him.

Naruto shrugged and looked down at the book again. "Well at least you admit I'm good at something then. I only meant that…look it's not like I would walk in on anyone else like this."

"You think it would placate me to say that you think less of me than other people?"

"Not less, more like that it's…different. Fine, look I won't bother you in the tub anymore," Naruto relented getting to his feet.

Sasuke watched his dejected expression till he was almost out the door and then sighed in resignation. What did it really matter? "So why exactly don't they allow more people in restaurants, pubs or clubs?"

Naruto turned back at the invitation to stay, grinned and sat down again. "Doesn't say. But I guess it's like that rule you read last night about people not being allowed to cograte or whatever."

"Congregate," Sasuke corrected. "They must be afraid of people getting together. They've probably had rebellions in the past."

"Gee, I wonder why?" Naruto asked sarcastically. "Someone should really do something about this."

Sasuke watched Naruto's serious eyes for a moment, gauging the weight behind such a statement before deciding he didn't like the way that had sounded at all.

"No," Sasuke told him sternly.

"What?" Naruto asked innocently. He didn't quite manage to pull it off though.

"You think you can play hero to the entire world now because you did it in the five nations? You can't just come into a foreign country and decide to be the people's saviour because their system doesn't make sense to you. Who says these people even want a saviour?"

"C'mon Sasuke, have you read these laws?"

"Yes, some of them are stupid, some are bizarre and some are just evil. But just because you're some great war hero doesn't mean you're allowed to fix the entire world as you see fit."

"I'm not saying I want to be a hero!" Naruto replied hotly. "But I think we can help."

"If the people want to save their country so badly they can do it themselves or leave. Rebellions won't be stopped just because the rulebook says that have to be stopped, that's sort of the point of rebelling. And don't say 'we'. I'm not a hero and I'm not about to start being one."

"Good point," Naruto said sourly. "I can't imagine what hero-worship would do to your already swelled head. Your brain would probably explode."

Sasuke chose to ignore that. "If you won't be intelligent, be practical. Yesterday you were almost foiled by a tall wooden wall. I don't think you're really up to leading a civil war right now in the state you are in, do you?"

It was obvious that hadn't occurred to Naruto if his sullen expression was anything to go off. But he wasn't done just yet.

"Sasuke, they stake people to the walls for looking the wrong person in the eye or wearing the wrong colour on a Sunday," Naruto reminded him quietly.

He thought as he got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around his waist that Naruto didn't realise who he was talking to sometimes. Well it would probably only help to remind him right now.

"A year ago I would have killed people for enjoying a peace I didn't think they deserved."

Naruto got to his feet and met his eyes for a moment before looking away again quickly.

"Yeah and I tried to stop you too."

"Failed. I'm still alive," Sasuke reminded him.

"So am I and Konoha is still safe. You could have killed me or continued your raid after I went down but you didn't. I don't think these people share your lack of conviction."

Sasuke's brain sort of froze in an instant. It was one of those moments when you become so angry in a sudden moment with no emotional buffer in between normal and livid that your brain kind of freezes up and your body just goes and reacts without practical thought. That was probably why he almost dislocated his knuckles on Naruto's jaw half a second later.

Naruto caught himself on the basin behind him before it could impact with his head. As Naruto pulled himself back to his feet properly Sasuke could tell how pissed Naruto was but Sasuke didn't really care.

"How _dare_ you question my determination, my honour!" Sasuke told him darkly.

Surprisingly though Naruto didn't make a move to hit him back as much as he looked like he _really_ wanted to. Sasuke wondered if that is what _he_ wanted. He would love an excuse to get into a fight right now he was that angry.

"It's your honour I thought I was defending," Naruto told him steadily. "You didn't actually go through with it, you aren't like these people. You can't think that a punishment like that is right otherwise you wouldn't have stopped yourself back then."

"Don't presume things. You don't know why I did and didn't do things."

"No shit. I'm still trying to work out why you hit me just now!"

"You insulted me you idiot. And I warned you not to bring up Konoha or I would hit you."

Naruto worked his jaw around for a moment while he recalled the warning. "Okay fine, I won't bring it up again even though I'm pretty sure you're the one that started it. But I wasn't insulting you and you can't think that these punishments are proper justice."

No, he didn't think that. But he wasn't in the most agreeable mood right now.

"It doesn't matter what I think, my point remains the same. If misguided self-righteousness makes you want to save these people when you are hardly in a position to face ten guardsmen let alone an entire country, be my guest. But I will not help you."

"But-"

"Sometimes people just need to save themselves otherwise it won't mean as much."

He didn't know why he'd said that. Well, he knew exactly why, but it wasn't something he felt like sharing. But the effect on Naruto was dramatic. He'd looked angry a moment before, but now he was looking at Sasuke thoughtfully and Sasuke knew right then that if Naruto pushed this, if he made any mention about Konoha and their fight and what had happened afterwards, or not happened as the case may be, Sasuke was going to hit him again. Hard.

But then Naruto smiled softly and nodded. "Okay, I understand." Then he left the room.

Sasuke hadn't been prepared for that. He was so sure Naruto was going to push him that he felt a little derailed when that didn't happen. Plus, there was probably nothing else he could have said in that moment that would have been quite so understanding, accepting and, well, perfect.

_Annoying bastard._

Sasuke made himself take a deep calming breath before dressing and following Naruto into the other room. Thankfully Naruto had put down the codebook and was watching Sasuke expectantly.

"I'm starving," he announced. "Can we get some breakfast before looking for a map?"

Sasuke nodded. "Okay."

"I wonder if they have ramen," Naruto said hopefully.

"For breakfast?"

"Ramen is good any time of the day."

Sasuke made himself take another calming breath. "Fine. Let's have a look."

* * *

Apparently ramen was too much to hope for so instead Naruto settled for some kind of meat sausage dripping in grease and Sasuke had omelette. When they were done they searched around for a cartographer, which took a lot longer than Sasuke had expected. There was only one store that fit the bill and that seemed to double as a kind of messenger service. From the looks of this it didn't appear as though either side of the business did a lot of trade. Naruto seemed excited and went to talk to one of the shop assistants about sending a message back to 'village that will no longer be named' while Sasuke looked through the stock of maps.

Soon after he'd started Naruto wandered back over to him with a glum look.

"Apparently you can't send messages outside the country," Naruto told him before adding softly, "The girl got real weird about me asking actually."

This news didn't help ease Sasuke's worries any. As he kept searching through the stacks of maps he had only so far found ones for this country which weren't at all helpful unless he knew which part of this country they would need to travel to in order to get out of it and get a step closer to home.

"Can I help you boys find something?" a voice behind them asked.

Sasuke looked around at a man in his mid fifties smiling at the pair in a surprisingly genuine manner. Actually his whole manner seemed to indicate to Sasuke that he was more than an assistant, possibly the cartographer himself.

"Do you stock maps of the surrounding countries?"

But then the man's smile slipped just a little. "We don't get a lot of foreigners, especially not ones who don't bring their own maps."

The presumption may have been correct, but Sasuke had to wonder why he'd guessed so easily. It wasn't like they were speaking a different language or anything.

"We lost ours," Naruto explained, smiling.

"Is that a problem?" Sasuke asked a little less convivially.

"Not a problem, just an observation. We don't get a lot of people looking for maps of the surrounding countries."

"We were trying to find a map to the five nations, the Fire Country actually," Naruto said hopefully.

"Sorry boys, never heard of it."

That surprised them both. Who hadn't heard of the Fire Country or even the five great nations? Sure that random traveller they'd met hadn't known, but this man was a map maker for fucks sake! They looked at each other for a moment before Sasuke turned his attention back to the man.

"We need a map as far reaching as possible beyond this country's borders."

"Well, we don't have any world maps or anything if that's what you mean. I'll have a dig around out back and see what I can find for you. You two must be doing some serious travelling."

"Apparently so," Sasuke responded unhappily.

* * *

In the end they had taken all the maps the man could offer them for the surrounding countries not wanting to pour over them in the shop because of the ever increasingly odd looks the shop owner was giving them. Luckily they hadn't cost much because the owner thought they'd been un-sellable until now. No wonder his business had looked so decrepit, he could have made them pay a lot more for something they so obviously needed.

But Sasuke wasn't about to turn his nose up at some rare good luck and they went back to the inn to discuss their find. They both poured over the maps spread out all over the floor while they chewed on some strange purple fruit they'd picked up for lunch and tried to make sense of what they had bought.

Anything that showed the slightest hint of what was over the borders was vague for the most part like whoever had drawn the maps had done so from rumour or second hand information rather than their own experience. But even through the vagueness Sasuke found some hope.

"I found a country bordered by desert," Sasuke announced a shade carefully.

"So?"

"A really big desert," Sasuke elaborated.

Naruto came over and sat down next to him leaning over to get a good look at Sasuke's map so close that their shoulders were touching. Sasuke tried to ignore the feeling.

"What makes you think it's the Wind Country?" Naruto asked.

"See here," Sasuke said pointing to some barely legible script on the page. "It's an old form of writing but I think it reads loosely 'warriors of wind'."

"No mention of ninja?" Naruto asked craning further forward.

"No. I don't think they have ninja here. And it's possible that Wind Country ninja don't come this far for assignments."

Naruto frowned. "Why, how far is it?"

Sasuke placed the three maps he had used next to each other to trace out how far he'd searched. Each map, ending with the one with the desert on the border, looked less and less detailed the further away from this country they got.

"That can't be right," Naruto said worriedly when he worked it out.

"Seems right."

"Sasuke, that's like three countries away!"

"Technically four if you count this one, which by the way is called Adessa."

"How the fuck did we get so far away from home?!"

"You think I suddenly remembered and didn't let you know?" Sasuke asked him acidly.

"No! I just…no, of course not. I was just surprised. That looks so _far_."

"It's hard to tell, there's no factual scale to these maps as far as I can tell but I would estimate it is a least a few months travel by foot without chakra. Maybe more, though I doubt it's less."

"Holy shit!"

Yep, had been pretty much Sasuke's initial reaction too, but he'd been able to hide it better.

"There is some good news though," Sasuke continued. "I think there's a river that basically runs from just east of this town and all the way through till just near the desert border which is a mountain range before the desert itself. It meanders a bit but it might be more reliable than following the roads on these maps. The Wind Country should be roughly north east of us but even that I couldn't really count on. These maps are so old and vague."

"Months," Naruto repeated sitting back in disbelief.

"Well, at least you'll have good company. As opposed to me."

Naruto was still in shock so Sasuke gave him a few moments before Naruto heard him and got angry.

"Bite me teme. I'm not unhappy we're gonna be travelling for so long together, I just never thought we'd be so far away, that's all."

Sasuke could very well demand in light of this new information that they split up and travel separately but it seemed stupid to do so. They would be heading in the same direction as each other anyway and it would begin to get rather silly when they kept bumping into each other. Besides, it didn't hurt to keep an ally close when he wasn't in peak form.

_Ally? When had that happened?_

Sasuke let himself fall backwards from his sitting position onto the floor amongst the maps. "I think I'm in shock too," he muttered morosely.

"But we're gonna stick together, right?" Naruto asked looking back at him. "I mean I get it, I piss you off and honestly, you piss me off a lot too. I've never been worried about having to do things on my own, but this is so _huge_. We only have a vague idea where the hell we're going, only a river to follow, Kurama's gone on vacation or something and I can't summon enough chakra to even make one single clone. I need…an ally…"

There was that word again: _Ally. _

Even Sasuke who was used to being on his own, preferred it most of the time, wondered if he could go so long out of his element and with very little of his old power left to him with no one to back him up and watch his back. And realistically as far as travelling partners went in this sort of situation, Naruto wasn't a bad choice all things considered. He was strong, he wasn't always a total moron and even though it was begrudgingly admitted, Sasuke knew him well. People he'd teamed up with in the past didn't know, didn't understand and mostly didn't trust him. They followed him because they feared him, wanted to screw him, because he had something they wanted or knew he could help get it for them. Or all of the above.

Naruto didn't fear him, most definitely didn't want to screw him and didn't want anything from him. Well maybe that wasn't entirely true. Once upon a time Naruto had wanted them to be friends and for Sasuke to come back home. He was probably the only person ever to have wanted simple friendship and that alone from Sasuke. Simple yet so hard to give. Sasuke wasn't sure if Naruto had given up on that want yet or not, and he wasn't entirely sure whether he cared. But it meant that Naruto didn't want to use him either, which was a surprisingly endearing novelty in itself.

"Did I say anything about splitting up?" Sasuke asked like it was a stupid question to begin with. "Why bother, we're both going the same way anyway, use your brain moron."

"Jerk."

"Idiot."

"Asshole."

"Are we done?"

"Admitting defeat?"

"No. But I'd rather one of us acted like an adult at least for five whole minutes."

Blue eyes and a big smile appeared, obscuring his view of the ceiling above him.

"You know I always called you a lot of names but I never thought I'd call you 'boring'," Naruto told him.

"A lot can change, though not you apparently. I noticed you still haven't heard of 'personal space'."

Naruto only grinned wider and leant down further till their faces were mere inches apart. Sasuke started to feel very cornered and had to fight the urge to push him away.

"Making you uncomfortable?"

"Being this close to you would make anyone uncomfortable," Sasuke shot back.

"Fine," Naruto relented sitting up straight again. "So we leave town, find this river and follow it to the border?"

Sasuke sat up to in order to focus back on the map. "Not quite. This part of the map," Sasuke went on tapping the part of the map where the river met the border, "says that there is a waterfall there so we'll have to cross the border near this road here. As far as I can tell it's the only road that goes across."

"We don't need roads," Naruto pointed out.

"No, but there is a town very near the border that this road runs through. I would like to get some information about the border crossing before we attempt it ourselves."

Naruto frowned at him. "You think it's not going to be as easy as just walking across into another country, do you?"

"No. The fact that everyone we've met seems surprised and even a little afraid that we're foreigners makes me wonder. People even need papers to get into this town, I can only imagine what it's like to actually cross a national border."

"I didn't think about that," Naruto admitted. "It feels weird that we even have to worry about stuff like this. I mean in the five nations we can go wherever we want. And if our chakra was working properly we could cross anywhere we wanted even if it was guarded."

"Well we don't have our chakra to use. But on that note I don't think that whatever happened to us has shut off our chakra for good."

Naruto looked at him hopefully. "You think so? Why?"

"Because we aren't dead," Sasuke replied simply. "That's what happens when all your chakra is drained from you."

"Ah, right. Good point."

Of course Naruto wouldn't have thought about that because generally speaking Naruto didn't have to watch his chakra reserves overmuch. But Sasuke did and he knew what happened if it drained away completely and the more he'd thought about their situation, the more it made sense to him that they weren't completely drained but for whatever reason their bodies just weren't replenishing and holding their natural reserves like they should be. Their bodies' natural ability to hold and store chakra seemed to be damaged or something which would also explain why Naruto couldn't even hold onto natural energy either. It might even go so far as to explain why the Kyuubi was unreachable. The tailed demons were chakra beasts, they needed chakra to function so if the Kyuubi didn't have a replenishing chakra supply either it might well lie dormant until a new supply presented itself.

"That reminds me," Sasuke told Naruto. "Stop trying to draw in nature energy."

"What, why?"

"Because I don't want you to inadvertently wake the fox."

"I don't get it."

"Our bodies might not be able to build up our own chakra and keep more than the minimum amount for survival at the moment so we might assume that it's the same with not being able to keep natural energy as well. But you said before that you could draw it in but couldn't hold onto it. It is possible that it was being taken from you by your demon guest."

"You think Kurama is stealing it from me to build up his own strength? But nature energy doesn't work exactly the same as chakra."

"It's just a theory," Sasuke admitted. "But it's enough reason to stop doing it just in case it turns out to be true."

"I still don't get it, why would that be such a bad thing? I can use the Kyuubi chakra as my own. If he uses it to get better it might work in our favour."

"It might," Sasuke allowed before adding, "or it might go really wrong. I know you talk about him now like you're buddies or something, but how sure are you about that? If suddenly he had all the power do you think he'd hand it to you without a fight? You told me before that you can use the Kyuubi chakra like your own and that you can control and mould it for your own use but that's when you have your own chakra to use as a control. Without that control your demon friend might decide that he'd rather go on a rampage than play nice and share."

Naruto looked for a long time that he wanted to defend the Kyuubi against Sasuke's assumptions but didn't seem to be able to actually voice it. He obviously really wanted to believe the fox would help but in all honesty couldn't promise the he would in fact play nice.

"I don't really know what he would do," Naruto admitted after a moment longer. "I think we're friends now, but I couldn't say for sure what he might do if he had all the power and I was powerless like you said."

"Right, so you should probably try not to feed him any more power, just in case. If that's even what's happening. It _is_ just a theory remember."

Naruto tried to smile at him. "I'm glad you're here Sasuke. I wouldn't have thought about this stuff on my own."

Sasuke watched his attempt at a smile but didn't attempt one of his own. There weren't a lot of people any more that were very glad to see him or wished for his company. Well nobody that really knew him anyway.

"If you had grown half a brain in the last few years dobe, you wouldn't still need me."

"Yeah well, maybe I am stupid, 'cause apparently I still do."

Sasuke didn't reply to that and just scowled at the maps as he busied himself packing them up.

Tomorrow they would leave this city and head east. They would take their first real steps on the long journey home.

And Sasuke really tried to feel good about that.

TBC in Part 3.

* * *

_Notes: Okay, I'll admit, this was a bit of a nothing Part. But honestly it's got very little to do with what is going to happen in the next Part so it made sense to me in this moment to cut it off there and start a new Part 3 which should be called Damsel in Distress. I've had ideas on what to do with Part 3 but can't be sure when it will be written. But I like the idea that Naruto will try and be a bit of hero even if it's on a smaller scale in Part 3. Anyway, hope you liked having a little more explanation about their situation, we should get right into the fic next part. Oooo, and just to whet appetites, if the idea of Naruto being his usual heroic self in Part 3 doesn't do it for you as a teaser I think perhaps at this stage Part 4 or 5 might be set in a brothel. Yay._

_Dash._

Unsigned Reviews –

Ravenette – Glad you are enjoying it so far and thank you so much for letting me know, but as for your question… well the first couple of lines in the warnings and authors notes in Part 1 I think mentioned that this isn't going to be easily labelled as far as the pairing is concerned. I'm not going to call it NaruSasu or SasuNaru because I either haven't decided yet or will indeed switch around depending on my mood. I hate to say this but if this seems unnatural to you, and even though I haven't decided what I'm going to end up with just yet, I would suggest bowing out now in order to negate possible disappointment on your part. Don't get me wrong, I'm very pleased you read and enjoyed the story so far, I really am, but if you are set on NaruSasu I do not want you to have to read a ton of fic just to find out you don't like where it goes if that makes sense. Sorry to disappoint, but I did post quite a few warnings about this in Part 1.

Wraith – Thank you Wraith, and don't worry, I will :)

IluvIY17 - *bows to applause* Well I sure hope I live up to your expectations *grins* Yep that's the idea. I like having something I can just pick up when my imagination kicks me rather than slogging through a more intricate plot or overly emotional drama like some of my other fics have done. I do enjoy writing my other fics of course but it is also nice to have something a little lighter waiting to come back to every now and again. It will also allow me to play with humour a bit more methinks which should be fun. Glad you liked the hotel scene though I'm guessing you had a few more giggles while they were in the bathroom this time too *smiles hopefully*


	4. Damsel in Distress Ch1

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 3**

**Damsel In Distress**

**Chapter 1/4**

New shoes, medicine, a warm bath or six and a good couple of nights sleep made the world to Naruto. It also helped his outlook to have a plan ahead of them. Usually he wasn't really one for big plans but he had to admit he felt better that they now knew what they were doing, where they were going and roughly how far they had to go. Of course the 'far' part was still a worry in the back of his mind but instead of thinking how far they had to travel he instead focussed on the positive things.

For the next few months he had no missions, no one to check in with, no training, no one to berate him when he lapsed on any of those counts. Which weren't necessarily negative things. He loved going on missions and training to become stronger but the idea that after the last few years of hectic gruelling toughing it out that he might now have some time to himself didn't suck. That also wasn't to say he didn't already miss his friends and his life in the village but there was nothing he could do about it and besides, no doubt Sasuke would take care of the berating for lacking part happily for the next few months.

He had to admit that being here with Sasuke probably helped him look on the bright side even though it was difficult in some moments to figure out exactly why. The previous nature of his relationship with Sasuke hadn't often been real clear to him in the whole time they'd known each other. In the academy and the early days of team seven they had hated each other, that was clear enough. Later came a grudging respect and something of a friendship. For Naruto a deep bond had formed with the first person his own age who displayed even the most basic regard for him. Then Sasuke had left and Naruto had spent the next few years obsessively training in the hopes of becoming strong enough to bring Sasuke home for Sakura and get their missed friendship back. To say Sasuke had resisted this was a gross understatement. And it had become only worse after Itachi had died.

Going more than a little insane from his tormenting past, Sasuke had directed his anger from his now dead brother to who he believed was responsible for Itachi's fate, namely the whole of Konoha and a few individuals in particular. It had seemed that Sasuke was on a path he would not be dissuaded from and it was either allow him to live and lose just about everything Naruto loved or sacrifice Sasuke and most probably himself in an attempt to stop him.

In the end Sasuke had… well he'd stopped himself it seemed. Why, Naruto had no idea and Sasuke seemed most definitely not in the mood for sharing. But Naruto did know this: during their fight he, Naruto, had lost. He hadn't been able to kill him in the end. No matter his determination to stop Sasuke he'd faltered and that was all Sasuke had needed to put him down. But then Sasuke could have killed him, could have gone on to wreak terrible devastation on the village but he hadn't. Naruto desperately wanted to know why Sasuke hadn't killed him, hadn't gone ahead and destroyed the village but was unwilling to go through another argument just to get told off again and still get no answers. Had Sasuke been unable to continue, or had he decided to stop? The question had tormented Naruto for over a year now and there didn't seem to be a forthcoming answer for him any time soon.

Which was a pity. He had never been so uncertain about how things stood between them. Even when he had resolved to kill Sasuke, or thought he had, it was clear to him what needed to happen. But now he just didn't know. It was easy enough to pretend that nothing happened, that there was nothing unresolved but Naruto knew that his want to be friends with Sasuke now depended entirely on why Sasuke had stopped himself from fulfilling his plans back then. Of course Naruto decided to look on the positive side for the moment. After all Sasuke had had a year to come back and finish the job but he'd all but vanished in the intervening time only to turn up now to share Naruto's lost fate with him.

So if nothing else, Naruto would think the best, treat Sasuke as he always had and keep doing so until Sasuke broke and gave him some answers or it finally drove Naruto insane from not knowing and he up and beat some answers out of the tight-lipped bastard.

So in light of his new optimism, he saw their predicament as an opportunity if nothing else. They were more or less stuck with each other and he was glad of the company. Sasuke might be a jerk most of the time but he had a good head for plans and strategy and could think of things that would never occur to Naruto on his own. With Sasuke's guidance they were already more or less on their way home, however long it took, and it was reassuring to have Sasuke on his side instead of at odds with him as usual.

Well most of the time.

But in any case, their next goal was getting to the town closest to the border they would next need to cross in order to gain some information about the crossing and stock up on supplies before leaving this country behind them. Naruto couldn't wait. This whole place seemed wrong to him on many levels and it chaffed more than a little that he couldn't help out. He didn't like standing by and watching people suffering just because of some stupid laws that governed their entire lives. But Sasuke had made it clear to him that if he tried to help, especially when not at full power, he might just make things worse. Normally this wouldn't bother Naruto who never really thought about the consequences to himself only that he might be able to help others, but Sasuke had gotten rather heated about it. You might say that he had taken the idea rather personally too and Naruto had not missed the meaning behind the words, 'Sometimes people just need to save themselves otherwise it won't mean as much.'

Is that what Sasuke had done by stopping himself back then if that is what in fact had happened to him? Naruto wanted to think so, so for that alone he would heed Sasuke's advice and leave the people of this country to their own devices.

So wrapped up is his thoughts for most of the journey was he that he barely registered it when Sasuke grabbed his arm and all but pulled him off the road and into the soft dirt at the side.

There were a few other people sharing the road with them today and Naruto noticed that all of them had done the same, leaving the road to stand motionless in the dirt, presumably to make way for a large but slow moving carriage, trundling up the road behind them.

At least that's all Naruto saw before Sasuke grabbed the top of his head and forced his eyes down to instead look at his feet. His first reaction was to fight against the treatment, but Sasuke's hand was like a steel grip, fingers laced through his hair so that any movement would pull on his spikes causing eye-watering pain.

"Teme, what the hell!?"

"Stand still and keep your head down," Sasuke hissed to him.

"Why?"

"Because that's what everyone else is doing."

It took Naruto a few moments to see this as being good advice and he nodded in such a way to prevent the least amount of pain to his head. Sasuke let him go and the two stood side by side as the sounds of the carriage rolled ever slowly closer.

Now, unless Naruto was meditating he found it really hard to just be still and quiet for too long. He'd actually noticed that while doing so he tended to slip into his meditative state without quite realising it. But Sasuke's warnings about drawing in nature energy was still swirling in his head so he tried to keep himself as alert as he could. He heard Sasuke sigh as he fidgeted in place but he tried to ignore Sasuke's annoyance with him. Instead he focussed on the sound of the carriage getting ever closer, imagining what it could be that would make every traveller on the road simply stop, make way and avert their eyes simultaneously.

Maybe it was someone powerful, maybe it was someone infamous, maybe it was royalty. A pretty princess perhaps out travelling on some important deed. In Naruto's mind she looked a little like Sakura though with long flowing hair and jewels, dressed up in a fairytale pink puffy dress and sparkling green eyes. All of this wondering was probably why when the carriage came up in front of them, Naruto's head rose of its own accord to lock eyes through the carriage window with what indeed turned out to be sparkling green eyes and a pale though undeniably beautiful face. Her long black hair, not pink after all, framed her faced and Naruto was further disappointed to realise it didn't glitter with jewels at all. But she was even prettier than he'd imagined so the disappointment didn't last all that long.

He smiled before realising it and he saw the green eyes widen dramatically which is when he realised they looked so sparkly because they were watery from crying as evidenced by her red rimmed eyes and pale drawn features. Seeing such a beauty in distress made him frown.

But the expression didn't last long because a moment later the carriage lurched to a stop and he heard the yell of a man's voice from inside the carriage and a guard jumped down from the back, brandishing a heavy wooden club and advancing menacingly.

Naruto held up his hands and took a step back, jostling Sasuke in the process. He felt Sasuke grab his side to steady himself but Naruto didn't spare him a glance.

"Uh sorry I-" Naruto began, starting to realise that he had definitely done something very wrong.

"Don't fight," Sasuke warned him softly just before he grunted and Naruto sensed his presence gone from behind him. He looked around to see Sasuke in the dirt, his hand to the back of his head. A guard had snuck up and bludgeoned Sasuke from behind while they hadn't been looking. He was amazed Sasuke hadn't seen or heard it coming.

Naruto saw the flash of anger pass over Sasuke's features, but true to his own word he didn't get back to his feet or attempt any sort of retaliation. He just lay half propped in the dirt and tried not to openly glare at his attacker. Obviously Sasuke thought that playing the meek bunny in this situation was the best way to go and he might have been right except for the mere fact of seeing Sasuke restrain himself so much, not to mention taking a vicious whack to the head for something he was not responsible for, made Naruto's head a little hot. And it wasn't until he felt the pain in his hand that he realised he'd hit the man who'd hurt Sasuke before turning to lash out at the man who had first approached him as well.

Both men went down in the dirt but when three more came to their rescue Naruto realised just what a hole he'd dug himself into. He didn't know what had come over him. But people hitting others for no reason, seeing the effort it took for Sasuke not to attack back, knowing what it cost him to do it and seeing the pain on his face had just made him react. So when a third man aimed a baton at his head he merely blocked it, but then he felt something heavy impact to the side of his knee and that leg collapsed under him. After that it was raining painful hit after painful hit till a loud voice called the attack off. Naruto cast bleary eyes up toward a man in a uniform similar to the others but with a definite air of authority. But the man wasn't looking at him, he was looking at Sasuke.

"Do you know this man?"

As quickly as he could Naruto turned his head towards Sasuke, shaking his head minutely, trying to tell Sasuke to lie.

Sasuke met his eyes before looking away quickly.

"No."

"Then leave him," the head guard instructed the others. "This one," he continued emphasising his point with a sharp kick to Naruto's ribs, "will come with us. Law breakers will not be tolerated."

Sasuke kept his head low and stayed in the dirt as they bound Naruto's hands with a long length of rope, which they then tied to the back of the carriage. Lucky for Naruto that the carriage was so slow moving because he would have had trouble keeping on his feet with his injuries otherwise.

When the carriage had gotten a safe distance away Sasuke got to his feet and glared in the direction it had gone for some time taking stock of the situation he was now saddled with and heartily cursing Naruto in his head for being such an uncontrollable idiot.

Sasuke should have kept his head down by force, he knew that now. Naruto was too inquisitive for his own good and Sasuke should have known that curiosity would drive him to take a peek at the intriguing carriage. But hindsight did him no good here and Sasuke was now left with two options. The first was to follow the carriage to the town and find out what was going to happen to Naruto. The other was of course to forget about Naruto and leave his stupid ass to fend for itself.

Sasuke did ponder these two options for a long time eventually realising that the carriage was most probably heading for the town he had been on his way to anyway so he might as well follow.

* * *

Naruto's side and head hurt from the beating so he was actually relieved when it finally pulled to a stop just inside the town. His disappointment was short lived though when the guards came around and before untying his hands laid into him again with the batons. When he was little but a barely conscious bloody heap at their feet they eventually must have decided to cut his hands free. He felt himself be partially picked up roughly by his arms and half lead, half dragged up a few wooden steps and into a musty smelling building. He was dragged through the building for a while, down a hallway toward the back where he was roughly shoved forward. He barely managed to get a hand up in front of him to prevent his head smashing against the floor and he hazily heard the metallic clang of a cell door closing behind him. Heavy footsteps started walking away and Naruto managed to raise his head enough to try and take in surroundings.

He was in a fairly roomy cell with a heavily stained straw mattress in one corner, a foul smelling bucket in the other and a set of bars blocking his escape. He could hear the faint sounds coming in through a window set just above head height in the wall above the mattress. The window itself had thick iron bars across it as well just in case Naruto could magically make his body the width of his head and somehow squeeze through.

After a few painful moments Naruto managed to gain his feet and he shuffled over to the bars. The cold iron under his fingers felt thick and strong. He could hear an angry voice filter down the hall from the front room and he strained his ears to hear what was going on.

"… Absolutely cannot be tolerated," the angry voice was ranting. "My daughter is not for the eyes on the common scum that litter the road. I demand he be made an example of!"

A somewhat tired voice replied. "Of course. I will see he is beaten my lord."

"Yes, I want him beaten. Afterwards I demand his death."

"Death, my lord?"

"Yes of course. I doubt your overlord Sachio will require anything less either for this slight on his bride to be."

"… Uh, yes. Of course, my lord. I will see to it personally…"

Naruto's head swam. They were going to kill him just for looking at a girl? He vaguely remembered that law about not being able to look at your betters but there had been a small part of him that never really believed they would actually kill someone for doing it.

"Kurama, if you're still with me, this is a real good time to wake up," Naruto suggested softly.

He heard light footsteps coming down the hall and Naruto gripped the bars tightly to keep himself upright. Whatever this was, he wanted to face it standing up.

But this new threat turned out to be a beautiful black haired girl around his own age with bright green eyes and a solemn expression. It was the girl from the carriage. He spent a good long few moments staring before he remembered what had gotten him into this mess and looked down at his hands instead.

He heard the girl move closer and then watched as small pale hands slid over his.

"I don't think it will matter it you look at me now," she told him softly.

Her hands felt warm against his and he looked up at her face once more. She looked so sad.

"I am so sorry about this," she continued. "I cannot believe my father would take the matter this far. I promise I will try to change his mind. It will be a few days before they will kill you I think."

What Naruto really felt like doing was having a little rant of his own about stupid laws and even stupider fathers but if he learnt nothing else from this latest experience he could at least appreciate the need not to let temptation get the better of him.

"Thanks. I'm Naruto by the way. I'm uh, sorry I looked at you."

"My name is Amaya," she replied surprised apparently by his reaction. "I am sorry too, Naruto. I will try to help you, my father is… old fashioned."

"Yeah, so I heard."

"Amaya, where are you!"

Amaya took her hands from Naruto's quickly and backed up a step. She gave him another sorrowful expression before quickly leaving the way she had come.

Naruto finally let himself slide to the floor and rested his sore body up against the bars. He really hoped her father was in a listening sort of mood.

* * *

On the bright side, this township seemed a lot more relaxed than the last one. There was no gate inspection, no walls surrounding the town and very little guard presence on the street in comparison. So Sasuke walked into town with no one to impede him and was only just inside the town itself when he spied a familiar carriage starting away from a squat beige building just up ahead. The carriage seemed to have the same guards hanging off it as before but was minus one blond idiotic dobe tied to the back of it so Sasuke had to assume that they'd left him in the building they'd just left.

The building itself had a crest on a post at the front that Sasuke didn't recognise but could guess easily enough that it passed for the local guard post or law office for the town. He picked an inconspicuous place to lean and watched for a while as guards went in and out of the building now and again.

The first thing Sasuke noticed was that there was a lot of them. More than he'd first thought actually. He counted at least two dozen guards going about their business and that was probably only this shift and wouldn't include whoever stayed in the building either. Fighting through that many wasn't a pleasant thought. If Naruto wasn't too injured and he managed to break him out quickly they might stand a chance. But then they were fugitives with no hope of gathering information about the border or being able to gather supplies. At night time he figured he might have more luck but he doubted his odds would improve all that much.

After dusk he watched a pair of guards go out on patrol and decided to follow them hoping that the topic of the moron who had looked at the carriage was top news. Sasuke managed to stay close enough to the pair to hear without alerting them to learn that yes, Naruto's capture was top gossip. Apparently Naruto had stared at the daughter of a very prominent lord who was now demanding Naruto be tortured for a few days before they went ahead and killed him. Well that answered the question of what was going to happen to him but honestly Sasuke hadn't really expected any different after Naruto's small show of resistance. He'd read quite a lot of the law book and knew what passed for justice here.

Another more slightly pressing fact he learnt was that apparently this town had a curfew and that the guards would arrest anyone out walking the streets after a certain time at night. So to avoid being caught and possibly locked up as well, Sasuke detached from his information source and slipped out of town.

Just east of the town he found a large but not particularly well-used bridge for shelter next to a stream. He decided to camp down underneath it for the night and think over his options.

Basically he was back to his original two: Try to help Naruto, a task that might do nothing but end up in both their deaths, or: leave Naruto behind and free himself from what was increasingly becoming a troublesome burden.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: oooo, Sasuke is considering ditching. Bad Sasuke. __Anyway, so welcome back after a bit of a break into Part 3. Part 3 is perhaps not the most exciting of parts but it's necessary, trust me, on a lot of levels. It's a set up part for future parts which is why it might seem a little tedious now but I assure you, all for a good reason. As far as Naruto and Sasuke are concerned this should also provide good tension, relationship building and give them a further sense of common goal. There needs to be this transition between Part 2 and 4 and when you read Part 4 you'll understand why because it gets a little touchy feely and yay for that :) Anyway I hope you are liking it so far._

_Dash. _


	5. Damsel in Distress Ch2

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 3**

**Damsel In Distress**

**Chapter 2/4**

Sasuke went into town the next day and set about getting supplies. He was hungry and sick of hunting and figured he'd better get enough supplies to cross the border since he might not find civilisation again for some time after today. He also spent some time trying to get information about the border too but had little luck so far and was probably pushing that luck by asking to judge by the looks he'd been getting. But no matter, he'd just have to play it by ear.

He'd decided he was going to leave Naruto behind.

He'd been reluctant enough to even begin travelling with Naruto in the first place and even though he had come to the conclusion that travelling with an ally was better than not, he couldn't think of a single logical reason to believe trying to rescue Naruto would do him any favours now. His ally had turned into a burden, a liability, and it was probably better to realise this now than when Naruto managed to get them both in trouble rather than just himself.

So Sasuke set off out of the town in the blazing heat of a new day looking ahead instead of behind him, focussing on how nice the silence sounded for the first time all week and enjoying the peace.

Three and a half hours later his peace and quiet wasn't as peaceful as he'd imagined. It was still quiet, he could hear his own soft footfalls, the odd crunch of the stones on the road or a dried leaf underfoot but he was hardly peaceful.

Despite his best attempts at looking forward he kept looking sideways. Literally. Like he expected to see someone there. A few times he almost caught himself wondering why Naruto was being so quiet before his slightly heat addled mind snapped back into focus and he would scoff at his own stupidity.

Had it only taken a few days for Sasuke to get used to Naruto's presence? It seemed that way, he just hoped that his stupid brain would get over the feeling already so he could get back to enjoying being on his own again, just like he was used to.

Four hours into his journey Sasuke started to wonder if he felt somehow guilty about leaving Naruto behind.

_No, definitely not._

Naruto was not Sasuke's problem and if Naruto couldn't look after himself by this point it was just evolution working to better mankind as far as Sasuke was concerned. He did _not_ feel guilty.

Four and a half hours along the road saw Sasuke stop in his tracks and turn slowly.

He rolled his eyes at himself and sighed deeply.

"Fucking dobe."

Then Sasuke starting walking back toward the town.

* * *

"Dobe."

Naruto at first thought he was hearing things. That couldn't be Sasuke's voice, surely.

"Um, Sasuke?"

"Who exactly else could it be, moron?"

"Where are you?"

Naruto asked looking around his little cell. His eyes were still a little unfocussed from the swelling and it was hard to see his cell in great detail.

"The window."

Naruto raised his eyes to the little window built into the cement wall of his cell. He could see part of the moon through the bars and after a moment saw pale fingers, heard a soft grunt and then something shadowy blocked out the moonlight as someone pulled their face up to the bars.

Naruto got painfully to his feet and went over for a closer look. It was hard to see Sasuke's face in the darkness but he could make out a few features and the twin black holes of Sasuke's eyes easily enough.

"You look worse than usual," Sasuke commented after a few moments.

"I thought you would have been long gone," Naruto told him instead in a soft tone.

"Don't assume I didn't think about it. But we have an agreement. And besides if they stake you I'd rather be present to say 'I told you so'."

Naruto sighed at Sasuke's attitude, but what could he expect? He was surprised enough that Sasuke hadn't left him behind entirely so he supposed this was better than nothing.

"So, what's happening?" Sasuke asked.

"Well apparently the guy, the father or whatever is trying to get me set up as an example or something. I don't know. I mean if they want to kill me, why don't they just kill me already?"

"There are worse things you can do to a person than killing them," Sasuke told him. "No doubt you're finding out about that. So I guess this girl you stared at is pissed at you."

"Actually I don't think she is," Naruto replied after a moment. "She was in here with her father earlier. She actually said sorry and she looked really sad."

"Yeah, must be so painful for her," Sasuke said sarcastically. Sasuke went quiet for a moment before speaking again. "So it must be her father with the problem. That's interesting to know."

"What are you going to do?" Naruto asked shade worriedly.

"I just thought it might be worthwhile talking to this girl, that's all. Perhaps if she convinces her father to let it drop you might get cut loose."

"That's what she said. Wait, why do you care? I mean I know it means you'll have to travel alone but I sometimes think you'd prefer that anyway."

"I'm not planning on storming the building for you Naruto. But talking to a girl isn't exactly a great hardship."

"For you it is," Naruto muttered.

"Do you want my help or not?" Sasuke asked pointedly.

"Um, I'll take the first option thanks," Naruto said quickly. "And Sasuke?"

"What?"

"…Thanks. You know, for sticking around and everything."

"Don't mention it. Ever."

And then Sasuke was gone.

Naruto sat down on the straw mattress wondering why he suddenly felt a bit more positive about things. Relying on Sasuke wasn't something he'd done in a very long time and even back when they'd been part of a team sometimes he wasn't sure if Sasuke would help him or help himself most of the time. But in all reality Sasuke had saved his butt more times than he cared to think about or even admit to and he felt strangely reassured to know that once again Sasuke was on his side.

* * *

It wasn't hard for Sasuke to find out where the girl and her father were staying. Apparently the girl was engaged to the richest man in town, who was well known, but Sasuke got the extreme impression, not particularly well liked. Not that anyone actually came out and said such a thing of course, you could get staked if you said the wrong thing to the wrong person apparently. But Sasuke was pretty good at reading people and most people around town seemed scared of him if not hated him outright.

It seemed the groom owned most of the town, landlord to all and made a nice living off charging people ridiculous rates for slum like dwellings and shops. Of course Sasuke could care less though. He could never understand the mentality some people had of putting up with bad circumstances if there was nothing really in it for them. If people didn't like their landlord Sasuke felt it was easy enough just to up and move. But he could imagine Naruto having a bit more sympathy about it because Naruto genuinely believed that some people just didn't know how to save themselves when things looked so bleak and that some people needed support and help to change their lot in life. He especially would have felt that people shouldn't give up their homes just because of one asshole.

But either way Sasuke had to admit that being rich and powerful did not give this man the right to do whatever he wanted without fear of repercussions. Sasuke just simply didn't believe it was his problem. He had meant what he'd said to Naruto, that even if people needed saving it would mean nothing in the long run if they didn't find the courage to save themselves.

Sasuke himself felt little fear about perhaps coming face to face with this apparent asshole if necessary when trying to speak with his fiancée but it became apparent as he walked up to the mansion that getting to the girl was going to be harder than he imagined. High stone walls encircled the compound with an iron gate at the front. He knew from rumour that the girl hadn't been seen around the town since her arrival so it seemed likely he wasn't going to be able to stumble into a chance meeting with her outside the gates. Of course Naruto had been imprisoned and beaten just because he'd looked at her so having a public conversation with her would probably earn himself a staking before he had a chance to say 'hello' anyway.

So he waited till the following night to make his move. During the day he'd purchased a dark grey scarf and spent the day around town subtly gaining as much intelligence he could about the mansion and the grounds it sat on. It wasn't a lot unfortunately but he was used to going in with less information than this and didn't worry much about the details.

When night fell he wrapped the scarf around his head to cover up his face and hair. Just before dusk he'd found some dark soil to rub into his pants to make them darker and blend in with the night better. He really wished he'd been properly armed too, but nowhere could he find a weapons dealer and he realised why when he remembered the little law book they'd picked up in the last town. General citizens weren't allowed to carry weapons so the best he'd been able to arm himself with was the little, almost dull knife they'd taken from the scavengers. He'd cut off part of his scarf to loosely wrap the blade and stuck it down the back of his pants.

He moved to the wall thankfully noting the lack of movement around at this time of night even though it was barely evening and started scaling the rough stone. At the top he crouched down and surveyed the meticulous lawn and the side of the mansion. Here and there he could see the occasional flash of a lamp which probably signified a guard prowling the grounds but the area between him and the wall of the house looked clear so he jumped down, rolled and sprinted to the wall, flattening himself against the stone bricks in the shadow of the mansion and listening intently for a few moments to see if his movement had raised any alarms. But the grounds remained silent and Sasuke cast his eyes over the wall of the mansion till they rested on some intricate latticework running up one of the sidewalls near the corner. Apparently the gardener was trying to encourage some jasmine to grow up the lattice and Sasuke was thankful that the gardener didn't seem to think of possible security flaws when planning his garden designs.

So after testing his weight on the wooden lattice Sasuke began his climb, moving swiftly and easily up to a second story window next to the lattice. Clinging to the lattice with his left hand he got out his knife and pulled off the dark protective cloth with his teeth before taking a quick peek in through the window. The room beyond looked dark so he braced himself and leant across, wedging the blade between the two windowpanes and working it up till he could slide the latch up and push the windows open.

He sat the knife on the inside sill and used both his hands to drag himself across and up till he could pull himself inside the window and drop onto the thick carpet inside.

He'd forgotten how hard certain things were without chakra and spent the next few moments crouched by the window breathing silently through his mouth before standing up and reclaiming his knife after shutting and relocking the window behind him.

Looking around the room he realised that this was a bedroom. Probably a guest room to judge from the lack of personal items. The door to the room was closed so Sasuke took his time looking around as much as possible in the darkness. There were a few travelling cases which suggested the room was currently being occupied by a man, to judge from the clothes contained inside them. He found nothing of great interest till he came across a small worn journal-like book on a desk near a rear-facing window. Sasuke spent a few moments looking through the book aided by soft moonlight from the window and it took him a while to figure out what he was looking at.

Since this was a guest room and since it contained mens luggage he could happily assume that this was the girls father's book. And it seemed as though the father had a bit of a money problem. It was a ledger of sorts, though a ledger from an anally retentive person who liked to keep track of what he owed to whom.

It was a weird thing to keep a record of for sure but Sasuke had seen something similar before. He had been acquaintances with a man who was such a prolifically bad gambler he kept a little book that documented of all his debts, who he owed them to and which town they lived it. He had owed so many people money that it was easier to write it down than remember it so he didn't inadvertently wander into a town only to be spotted by the wrong person and wake up ten painful hours later with all his bones broken and his liver removed. He had worked under the theory that if he kept gambling in new towns sooner or later he'd win big and be able to pay off his debts. It never seemed to work though and Sasuke remembered hearing sometime later that one of his creditors had eventually caught up with him after all when his body had been found in a river on the outskirts of a village barely recognisable and missing everything with even the slightest hint of value on and in his person.

That man's journal had looked almost exactly like this, though of course Sasuke was only guessing that gambling was to blame here. This man could be in debt for countless other reasons but the reality remained the same in that he must owe great amounts of money to quite a few people which might go a long way to explain what the man was doing here with his daughter.

Sasuke had heard rumours that the owner of this house, the asshole slum lord, had more or less paid for his fiancée. Dowries were still common with lords and royalty in the five nations even though the practice was practically unheard of these days with most of the population. But unlike most dowries where the bride was the one who came with offerings to the groom, apparently in this instance it was the other way around.

This highborn girl represented prestige to a man who had made his fortune off the poor and hopeful. Marrying this county's version of aristocracy would be a greater step up in society. So maybe the father had given in and sold his daughter off to a man who could clear his debts even though he wasn't perhaps in the same social class. It was probably a great blow to the father's pride but desperation would make him swallow that pride in the end.

Of course Sasuke could be completely wrong. He was basing his assumptions off street gossip and a suspicious ledger containing a lot of big debts but he doubted he was wrong. The Uchiha's weren't ever considered nobility in the strictest sense but he had grown up in a household with the same intrigues and clan snobbery of a large aristocratic house. He knew his father and mother had been matched through social acceptability and breeding rather than love. He also knew that if they had never died he could have expected the same fate. It hadn't bothered him when he'd first learnt this because for one thing he had been young and thoughts about marriage hadn't been a factor to him. Secondly although his parents were matched they did seem to have a fondness for each other that couldn't be faked. So his young mind had just accepted it and not worried about it. He wondered if he would be so accepting now though. If his clan hadn't been murdered would he have perhaps be promised to someone by now? Of course such a thing would be easier to accept since it would mean his family was alive and well.

But anyway, Sasuke knew how things in these sorts of families went so he would be surprised if he hadn't guessed correctly.

He looked up from the book and glanced out the window at the large garden at the back of the grounds. The room he'd climbed into was on a corner of the house and so had a view of the western lawn where Sasuke had come in and the southern area as well where there seemed to be a massive garden including a large hedge maze of all things.

Sasuke spent some time looking out over the garden before deciding that perhaps his initial idea of talking to the girl probably wasn't the best idea after all. If her father was the type of man to sell his daughter off to the highest bidder regardless of the man's character he doubted any input from her about Naruto's fate was going to even be thought about for a second. And if she really was apologetic about it and still Naruto was locked in a cell, she either had already pleaded and failed or didn't have the courage to try in the first place.

No, if Sasuke wanted to confront the source of this problem he'd have to go straight to the father. Either that or it was back to plan B, which was break Naruto out of prison with nothing but a glorified kitchen knife, no chakra and two dozen armed professionals standing in his way. Needless to say, Sasuke would rather try Plan A first.

So Sasuke ripped a blank page out of the journal and picked up a nearby pencil.

* * *

Sasuke had concealed himself just out of the centre of the hedge maze and waited patiently. He could easily predict which way the man would come from and planned to suit. He wasn't disappointed when he heard the somewhat out of breath middle-aged man step into the centre of the maze and take a moment to get his breath back.

Sasuke stepped out into the moonlight visibly startling the man in the first moment of his arrival. But the man recovered quickly and gave Sasuke a look of such pure malice it almost caused Sasuke to smile.

"What do you want?" The man asked gruffly, clearly not liking being at a disadvantage.

"You didn't bring any guards," Sasuke observed. He hadn't stipulated this in his brief note, but he'd figured the guy would come alone. Sasuke had wanted to know just how much this man wanted to keep his little journal a secret.

"This is just a business transaction, isn't it?" the man replied. "What do you want?"

Sasuke did smile then, a little half smile that told the other man he clearly knew he had the advantage.

"You had someone arrested for looking at your daughter."

"Yes, so?" The man asked impatiently. "My daughter has noble blood and is not for the eyes of the common people."

"Really? I would have thought you didn't think that much about her noble ancestry when you agreed to marry her off to an up and coming slum lord just so he could pay off your debts. Of course since you are here, I can assume he isn't even paying off _all_ your debts if you still need your little book back so badly."

"What is this about? Are you here to get me to drop the charges against that little nothing in jail, or are you more interested in my daughter?" the man asked curiously.

Obviously he was thinking that Sasuke or someone Sasuke worked for had an interest in outbidding his daughter's current fiancée. Wishful thinking. But it at least reassured Sasuke that the book still had value.

"I couldn't care less about your daughter or who you whore her to for your own gain," Sasuke told the man as he casually advanced on him.

"So it's the boy?" The man asked darkly. "Well you can forget it. The law is the law and this matter is not up for discussion."

Sasuke stopped in front of the greying man and looked into the hard blue eyes for a moment. There was a strong pride there but unfortunately not, as Sasuke had hoped, towards himself. It was the misguided pride of a man who believed more in what he stood for rather than himself. He would have his little dirty book of secrets made public before he allowed himself to contradict his own class beliefs. No matter what, Naruto would die because this man truly thought he was superior to him just because he had been born into a better class of family.

Sasuke didn't spend too long dwelling on the irony of that.

"You wrongly assume I came here with the sole intent of having a discussion and no other alternative. You won't talk this out, that's fine. Blackmail was the peaceful solution but I'm not against a violent solution either. Anyone that thinks they can have people murdered just because they are powerful and want it to be so isn't justice, it's evil."

Chakra or no, Sasuke's natural reflexes would make any fighter jealous. One moment he was looking into stubborn hard eyes, the next he was looking into surprised pained ones as he pushed the knife up through the man's ribs and into his heart. It took some force since the knife wasn't the sharpest of murder weapons but it still went in and Sasuke left it in as the man toppled backwards onto the grass.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: Hmm, methinks Sasuke took that a little personally… But anyway he sure went the violent way of saving Naruto. He went from wanting to leave him to getting him back in the most drastic way but I suppose it just means that when he makes his mind up about something he gets really determined about it haha. But oh well, let's see if Sasuke's plan works and that now Naruto's accuser is gone things might become right with the world once more. Umm, well you never know :)_

_So it occurred to me that I must have forgotten to reply to a bunch of unsigned reviews last chapter. My bad guys, I don't know what happened. So here are the rest of the review replies from the last chapter and the one before._

Unsigned Reviews

_**Grrlscomitcandy – **Wow, thanks! Such a huge compliment :) Oh don't worry, barring my death this fic will have an ending. I will always try to finish everything I have started at least :)_

_**Random – **thanks for letting me know, I really appreciate it :) And even if you do leave reviews on completed fics I promise you that it always appreciated. But since you don't have an account being able to respond like this will be even better I have to say. Thanks again!_

_**Envyyyy – **Yep, I am a tease lol. But there's more teasing where that came from too. I have such a long timeframe to play with these two in this fic I wont be able to help myself haha._

_**Yamanvie – **Hmm, I should probably have just replied in a PM, but what the hell :) Yay Vie, my 50th reviewer *big smiles* Oh we all want the 4th part methinks. Haha, soon, I promise. You know Part 4 is already partially written cause of my total inability to ever do anything in order so it wont be much effort to fill in the blanks once I get the time._

_**Cba** – Thanks! Glad you are enjoying it and I hope you liked the update :)_

_**Yosh** – oh Yosh, but I love to tease. The teasing chapters are my favourites lol._

_**IluvlY17 – **Well I did post that preview oh so long ago now. Happily when this one is done I will have a preview all ready for Part 4 to post on the Dashdom as well. _

_Yes, silly curious Naruto, will you never learn lol. Yes, if Sasuke had left him for dust perhaps there might have been some interesting tension if Naruto got out of it himself, but ah, I'm a sucker to see them a little happier even if Sasuke did perhaps go a little overboard… *grins*_


	6. Damsel in Distress Ch3

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 3**

**Damsel In Distress**

**Chapter 3/4**

Sasuke hadn't known what outcome his actions might have exactly. At the very least he figured now that the man who had levelled the charges against Naruto was gone it would be up to the victim, the girl or her family, to follow up on the case. Basically if the girl's fiancée had any say in this they were still probably screwed. But if Naruto was right about the girl then perhaps her father being missing would allow her to drop the charges. Assuming of course that the subject of her missing father didn't distract her too much and she forgot about Naruto entirely.

Sasuke was left for a whole day keeping an eye on the jail wondering what might happen and was about to give up hope in getting some results on his somewhat drastic and impetuous actions when he saw the girl and her personal servant enter the jail. She was in there for only about twenty minutes before she exited the building, her manservant helping Naruto walk down the steps after her.

Well it seemed as though drastic and impetuous had saved the day. And so Sasuke allowed himself a very smug smile as he sauntered over to the group leaving the jail.

"Dobe," Sasuke greeted as he got closer, "you're walking pretty well for someone who was almost staked."

Naruto raised his head and cast bleary eyes in Sasuke's direction. It was at this point that Sasuke got his first good look at the damage done to Naruto during his confinement making his smile falter. The areas around both eyes were swollen and bruised, his cheek and lips were cut and smeared with dry blood and that was just the damage Sasuke could actually see. Who knew what else had been done? Despite how painful it looked, Naruto still smiled broadly at him.

"You better believe it. I'm pretty tough."

"Why didn't you fight back?" Sasuke almost but not quite demanded, a swift change from smugness to annoyed after seeing that even talking seemed to hurt him.

Naruto shrugged, or at least tried to. "I was pretty well chained up most of the time. And my odds weren't real good either, cause of how many soldiers were always in the building. I don't think they would have beaten me less if I tried to escape." Sasuke had to give him credit, he'd actually thought it out for once. "And besides, I knew if Amaya here hadn't helped me you would have got me out somehow."

Naruto's optimism seemed inexhaustible. Of course Sasuke _had_ helped him, not that Sasuke would ever let him know that, it wouldn't be worth the ranting or the annoying guilt Naruto would surely feel even though he hadn't had a hand in it himself. For Sasuke it just wasn't worth dealing with. So even though it appeared as though Sasuke had not lifted a single finger to help him, Naruto seemed to truly believe that Sasuke would have saved him. Well it might have curbed his optimism somewhat if he knew just how close Sasuke had come to leaving him here on his own only a few days ago. With great effort, Sasuke ignored the will to tell him and wipe the smile off his face.

He really never learned.

"Ahhh?"

Sasuke looked over at the girl aware that he was supposed to avert his eyes but not bothering anyway. For some reason he felt far angrier now than pleased and he didn't appreciate her interruption.

"Oh, Sasuke, this is Amaya. Amaya, this is Sasuke. Oh and this is Reizo."

Naruto finished gesturing toward the man currently aiding Naruto to stand upright.

Amaya was looking Sasuke over with something close to distaste while Reizo's expression was a little more wary. Amaya was a pretty thing, with her long dark hair and bright green eyes. She didn't seem to like Sasuke though, which was a little new for him. Usually it took girls a while to get to know him before they started to give him that look. And even then it was rare.

Reizo had shorter silver hair and dark grey eyes. The effect of his hair made him look older than he probably was so Sasuke estimated him to be only be in his mid twenties or there about. Sasuke couldn't decide whether Reizo disliked him or not by the look he was getting. He seemed a little unsure about Sasuke for whatever reason.

"I can handle it from here," Sasuke told Reizo.

"Actually," Amaya interrupted, "I was wondering if I might be able to speak to you Naruto. Is there somewhere private we can talk?"

Naruto looked to Sasuke who shook his head. "We don't have enough money for a room. I've been sleeping outside town."

"We could go back to camp," Naruto suggested.

Amaya looked for all the world like a girl very unused to following strange men out into the wilderness but she seemed determined non the less.

"Lead the way."

* * *

Camp was a bit of stretch of the word for the place Sasuke had been sleeping. Just out of town there was a bridge running over a stream and Sasuke had been using the underside of the bridge as a camp. It was clean and had running water and so long as you didn't mind sleeping on pebbles occasionally, at least it was out of the elements.

Amaya settled onto Reizo's jacket with her feet tucked up underneath her looking as prim and proper as she could in such an environment and obviously trying to show her willingness to be here. Reizo stood behind her protectively and watched Sasuke closely as Sasuke settled Naruto next to the water and peeled off the latter's t-shirt to get a look at his injuries. He looked bruised and cut up in a few places but not as bad as Sasuke had expected. There was a man made stone ledge at the edge of the stream and Sasuke spent some time dunking the tee in the water over the ledge and using it to wash the worst of the blood and grime off Naruto's back.

Amaya meanwhile nodded to Reizo who came over with a small jar, which he handed to Naruto before retreating back to Amaya. Naruto had the lid off and was sniffing the light green cream inside before Amaya offered an explanation.

"It is not much of an apology, but I do hope it helps. It is the best healing salve available and will reduce the swelling, the bruises and help heal your cuts faster."

"Thanks," Naruto told her with a smile. "You don't need to apologise. It was your father that had me locked up. I know you didn't want it to happen."

Amaya had the good sense to look a little contrite at Naruto's show of forgiveness.

"I have to admit, I did not have much luck enjoining my father to have you released. But now my father has gone missing you see and I believe he has gone into hiding. He left his journal behind and a short note of apology." When Sasuke heard this part he was secretly pleased. He had spent very little time copying the father's handwriting but even his daughter hadn't been able to tell the difference in the end. "I knew he had debts but I never knew they were so great," Amaya continued oblivious to Sasuke's inner smugness. "It must have overwhelmed him. But this is not your concern of course. At least it allowed me to drop the charges before an even worse fate befell you. The law is archaic and I don't believe somebody should be punished simply for looking at another person. Honestly, I would escape to Arrei if it weren't for my fiancée. It is the reason I am here in this town and my contract with Sachio still binds me to him even in my father's absence."

"You don't like him?" Naruto asked as Sasuke reached over and snatched the salve out of his hand to begin spreading it on.

Amaya's look twisted a little. "If you knew him you would not like him either. It is not a match of love I assure you. He is a very cruel and sadistic man. I fear what may happen to me after we are formally married and I am little better than his property."

"You could run away, just like your father did," Naruto suggested.

"I could not," Amaya told him. "Breaking my contract will make me a criminal. I could never cross the border if that were to happen. Well perhaps I could, but I lack the personal funds for any nefarious means. These contracts are ancient law and there are very few ways to break them legally."

"But there _are_ ways," Naruto persisted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sighed. "I suggest our guest gets around to asking her favour already," Sasuke said bluntly.

Amaya flushed and looked down, chewing her lip in a very unladylike fashion. "I couldn't."

Naruto looked confused but Sasuke wasn't stupid. "You didn't just invite yourself here to apologise. You want something from us."

Amaya took in a deep breath but she didn't look angry. "You're a skilled fighter, aren't you Naruto? I saw you when they tried to take you on the road. If you had not held back, if you had not been at such odds, you would not have been taken."

"Um, yeah I guess," Naruto said uncertainly.

"As I was saying, it is an ancient law that binds these kinds of contracts. However, there is a stipulation stating that if another suitor of the same social background as the current fiancée wishes to bid for the promised woman himself, he may challenge the current suitor to a duel."

"A fight," Sasuke translated for Naruto's benefit. He vaguely remembered this obscure rule from his study of the law book. "You want him to beat your to-be husband in a fist fight."

Amaya nodded. "I couldn't just ask anyone you see. Sachio is quite skilled himself and I don't wish for anyone else to get hurt for my sake."

"Little late for that," Sasuke muttered.

"Teme, don't be a jerk!" Naruto told him. "Would you like it if you were trapped in a marriage contract to someone you hated?"

Little did Naruto know that if the Uchiha clan was still around Sasuke might well have been. "It doesn't mean it's your problem."

"Wait," Naruto said ignoring Sasuke. "You said I had to be like equal or whatever to this guy right? I mean your like a proper lady, your fiancée must be loaded!"

"This is true, he has certainly done well for himself but the fact remains that he is from common stock. Sorry, I don't like using such words and honestly it doesn't matter his heritage only the kind of man he is. The kind of man Sachio is, well, he is not someone I wish to be married to. But it does mean that technically any person can challenge him. You are the first I've met who I believe would have the skills to defeat him."

Sasuke could just imagine the panic on Naruto's face as he voiced his next question. "You want to marry _me_?"

Amaya finally smiled then, her face becoming animated and full of life for the first time since Sasuke had met her.

"No Naruto, we've only just met. I just want you to break my current contract. I do not think I am ready to make another one so soon. Our goal is to just make believe that it is our intention to marry."

Naruto was silent for a little while after that.

"She wants you to pretend to be in love with her and pretend you want to marry her," Sasuke translated for him again in an annoyed tone.

"Oh," Naruto said relieved. "I-I mean you're really beautiful and everything Amaya and you seem really nice, but, w-well, we're making a big trip home and everything and it's really far away and I-"

"She gets it dobe, stop stuttering."

"So you'll help me?" Amaya asked with a hopeful look.

"Of course!"

* * *

It took great effort on Sasuke's part to stay quiet for the rest of the plan making. All the while he distracted himself by cleaning out Naruto's wounds as best he could and spreading the sweet smelling greenish cream over the worst of the damage. Naruto winced every now and again at Sasuke's total lack of care in his ministrations but didn't comment probably realising that complaining would just mean he'd have to attempt to do it himself later with no help from Sasuke at all.

Once Amaya and Reizo had left, Sasuke stopped trying to hold his tongue.

"Usuratonkachi!" Sasuke spat getting to his feet and glaring at Naruto. "What are you thinking?"

"What?" Naruto asked innocently. "You don't think I can take this guy?"

"Do I look concerned for your well being?" Sasuke returned angrily. "Why would I be if you obviously don't care? You can't stand up by yourself at the moment let alone fight."

"Amaya said it would be okay to wait a couple of days to heal."

"Oh good," Sasuke said sarcastically. "So long as _Amaya_ says it's okay."

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto asked him frowning.

"We've wasted enough time here, we haven't found out a single thing about the border crossing and now you want to waste even more time rescuing some damsel in distress. What did I tell you about helping people?"

"Yeah but you can't think that applies to young girls in legally binding contracts to marry assholes."

"It applies to everyone, that's the point!"

Naruto actually rolled his eyes. "Look Sasuke, staying here a couple more days isn't going to hurt the grand plan. It's going to take us _months_ to get home, two or three more days isn't going to kill us."

Of course Naruto didn't realise that Sasuke had committed a murder in this town just under two days ago. The longer they stayed here the bigger the chance of a body being discovered and investigations started. And now that Amaya knew about Naruto's companion, a person who might have great need to permanently get rid of her father… well, it wouldn't take a genius to figure Sasuke might have had a hand in it. Honestly he was surprised, though very relieved, that the coincidence hadn't set off alarm bells for Naruto as well. He might call Naruto a moron a lot, but he had found Naruto to be surprisingly intuitive sometimes. Luckily this didn't seem to be such a moment.

"I should just leave you here to play the hero and leave," Sasuke muttered.

"If that's what you want," Naruto replied.

Sasuke was a little surprised by the reaction and something of that must have shown on his face,

"What?" Naruto continued. "You think I'm going to beg you to stay? Sasuke you were always bent on doing whatever you wanted no matter what I said to you. I've got no real reason to think that's changed now. But I can't leave, I gave her my word."

And that was another thing about Naruto. It wasn't like he liked this girl any more than he would any other nice seeming stranger. It was just that she had asked for his help and being who he was he had promised to help her. So he would, end of story.

"That's why you shouldn't have promised her you moron!"

"You can go if you want, but I'd rather you stay," Naruto told him. "I know you probably left town after I got captured. But you came back."

Okay, so maybe Naruto did kind of know how close Sasuke had come to skipping out. Yet he still had that optimism about Sasuke saving him back at the jail, it was infuriating!

"Don't think that'll happen every time you do something stupid," Sasuke replied sitting down again, this time in front of Naruto and grabbing his chin roughly. Naruto winced at the treatment but stayed still while Sasuke washed the blood off his face and started to apply the cream to his cuts.

Naruto tried to smile. "Thanks."

"Shut up."

* * *

The next day Sasuke left Naruto to heal up at camp while he spent the day walking to and from the border to check on the situation there. Sasuke spent a good long time checking on the security along the road and the patrols through the wilderness and came back after dark with a solemn look that immediately made Naruto frown.

"That bad?" he asked unnecessarily.

"It's worse than I expected," Sasuke admitted sitting down and taking the bread Naruto offered him.

"Lots of soldiers?"

"About an army. I couldn't get very close but I saw enough to know it's not something we can fight our way through. This army patrols the forests along the border in no pattern I can discern. Without chakra I would estimate our chances of getting across to be less than completely screwed."

"You never got the hang of hope," Naruto muttered.

"This _is_ me being optimistic, believe me. We need another way across."

At least Naruto was looking better today. Sasuke didn't know what the greenish cream had been but it was fast acting. Already the swelling on Naruto's face had gone down dramatically and his bruises were fading. If things kept healing like this Naruto would be recovered enough the day after next to challenge Sachio. But then what? With no clear idea of how to cross the border, he didn't know what else to do from here.

"Maybe Amaya can help us," Naruto said after a moment. "She said she wanted to cross the border herself, maybe she has a way."

"Yes dobe, she probably has papers so she can just walk across once she's free of her marriage contract," Sasuke replied dismissively. But then he remembered something else Amaya had told them. "Though she did say something about not having enough money for any nefarious means as well. She may know about some less legal way to cross."

"Yeah but if Amaya didn't have the money to do it, we don't either. You said you didn't even have enough money for an inn."

"I had the money, but not the will to spend it. We have very little money left and I had to decide whether I wanted to keep it for food and supplies or a few nights of comfort. I chose food."

"So how much to we have?" Naruto asked his eyes lighting up a little.

"Still not much. Money is different here so it's difficult to determine what is a lot and what is little. We have one hundred and twenty three den, which is what they call their money here. To judge by how much food and rooms are in this country I would assume this isn't such a great amount. For something like this I would assume we would need an amount in the thousands."

"You assume?" Naruto asked. "But you don't know."

"Of course I don't know, not for sure."

"So we can at least ask Amaya about what this illegal way is, do some digging and see where we stand on the money right?"

Sasuke blinked at him in mild surprise. Nothing was ever that simple but Naruto managed to make it sound that way easily enough.

"Hope won't pay our way over the border dobe."

"No but something else might. There's no harm in checking it out. We can ask Amaya after the fight."

* * *

On the day of the scheduled fight Sasuke had to admit that the green cream had done a good job. Naruto's face was so close to it's original size and colouring that you had to squint to see the fading damage. He seemed relatively fit and strong again except for a few sore spots here and there. It was entirely possible that he had a couple of broken bones too. When he'd first come out of jail his ribs had been badly bruised and Sasuke figured that a few ribs had been cracked if not broken. Thankfully it didn't seem to be causing any bad internal problems though. Also a couple of his fingers too had been very discoloured and swollen and it wasn't till now when the swelling had gone down a little that Sasuke noticed that they were slightly crooked.

Naruto had been sitting down letting Sasuke go over his injuries as he did every morning when Sasuke found the newly revealed issue. Luckily Naruto was right handed and these breaks were all on his left hand but still, if he left them as they were they would mend crooked and be hard to use in the future.

Sasuke held Naruto's left hand still with one hand and gently ran the tips of his fingers along the broken bones trying to get a feel for the damage. He'd been at it for a little while now though and Naruto was beginning to fidget under the close scrutiny.

"My hand's not that interesting teme."

"Three of your fingers are broken and healing wrong," Sasuke explained. "I need to possibly re-break and set them."

Naruto pulled his hand swiftly out of Sasuke's loose grip. "No fucking way!"

Sasuke looked up at him now and scowled. "You must have known they were broken. If you'd said something earlier I wouldn't need to do this now."

"It hurts sure, but lots of me hurts. Besides I've broken bones before and it always heals right eventually."

"How many times do I have to tell you! Without the Kyuubi you will not heal like you are used to. Besides it's not like I will really have to break the bones again, it's barely begun to heal yet. I just need to reset them and bind them if you want to be able to use your hand again properly in the future."

Naruto didn't look happy about this in the slightest but Sasuke didn't care. Having an almost useless left hand wouldn't allow Naruto to fight to his best potential and Sasuke wanted a fit and able ally.

"Okay fine, you can go all sadist on my hand later. But you can't set it before I fight, it'll be even more useless and painful."

Sasuke nodded. "Fine. Apart from that your ribs feel okay but will still hurt for a while, just don't overdo it today and there shouldn't be a problem."

Sasuke didn't for one moment assume that Naruto was in any real danger today. Sachio was a bully sure but Sasuke hadn't seen any great threat in the man himself. He'd seen him around when he'd gone into town for supplies recently and had watched how the man moved with a careful eye. Even hurt, Naruto could probably put the man down easily. Well honestly, even blind with both arms tied around his back Naruto would probably win which was lucky considering he was still in some pain. Of course Sasuke could just simply fight in Naruto's place but he didn't see the point in that. For one thing the plan counted on Amaya already telling her fiancée about her new suitor and who knew what descriptions she had given. And for another Sasuke just did not want to be involved. If Naruto wanted to play hero to the damsel Sasuke saw no reason to help him out of pity. And if Naruto did end up in more pain… well then at least he might learn a lesson from all this.

* * *

As previously planned Naruto and Sasuke went up to the gates at Sachio's mansion at midday and waited for the events to begin. According to Amaya she would set up the fight, telling Sachio about Naruto and his challenge, the where and the when. Apparently word had spread because there were a quite few people that seemed to have come by to watch either for entertainment or because they wanted to see Sachio get hit finally. But that had been part of the plan too. For this to become legal, they needed witnesses.

Sachio took his time appearing but not, Sasuke got the impression, because he was afraid. On the contrary he strode out of his gates confidently with two guards in tow and a solemn looking Amaya following close behind.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Sachio gave Naruto a superior smirk and then went about taking off his shirt. The whole of Sachio's demeanour said how highly he thought of himself and he must believe other people though so too. It wasn't like he was an ugly guy but he paraded around like he was some kind of rock star despite the evidence of the absolute silence of the townsfolk.

"What a poser," Naruto muttered from his place beside Sasuke. "Do you really think he's as good as Amaya says?"

"No," Sasuke spoke with confidence.

"Oh well," Naruto continued taking a moment to stretch his arms a little. "Might as well get this over with."

"Just don't kill him in public, dobe. We don't need any more hassles."

Naruto smirked at Sasuke's weird sense of humour before walking into the ever-growing circle of people and gave Sachio a big smile.

In his arrogance Sachio didn't see Naruto as much of a threat. A teenager with a goofy grin and no fear. Sachio must have thought Naruto was stupid, and well, sometimes he was. But mistaking stupidity for well-earned confidence was probably going to be Sachio's first and last mistake in this fight.

Sasuke could see Amaya looking on tensely as her manservant walked into the circle to announce the duel to all in attendance, the reasons why and just what would happen if whichever person won the conflict. Sasuke hadn't really been paying attention having gotten bored and over the whole thing as soon as Naruto had left his side. But something at the end of the speech sparked Sasuke's attention. What Amaya had failed to mention was that if Naruto, the challenger, lost the fight, he would end up back in jail. Not that Sasuke felt Naruto was likely to lose, but he didn't appreciate the omission from her original plea for help. His estimation of Amaya being a conniving bitch went up a lot with that bit of news.

He focussed back on the match just as Reizo called for it to begin. Sachio stood with a steady stance, completely inflexible and watched confidently as Naruto approached him. Against Naruto this was a quick way to lose your match quickly. To fight Naruto you needed to be fast and agile, keep moving and make yourself hard to hit because that first hit, the one with the most strength behind it, was always the worst.

Naruto dodged in to provoke an attack and sure enough Sachio responded with a wild high hit which Naruto ducked under easily. A little too easily and too fast truth be known. When Naruto had full use of his chakra he was quick and agile enough, but without it his reflexes just didn't have the same edge. Chakra helped him move while fighting and Naruto didn't seem to realise this. Sasuke saw a flash of pain cross his face but the pain wasn't enough to deter him. When he ducked he thrust his fist into Sachio's kidneys and when his opponent reeled from that he followed it up neatly with a punch to the head.

With his left hand.

Sasuke almost winced out of sympathetic pain but Naruto simply grit his teeth and bore it as Sachio fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes at his feet.

From start to finish the whole duel had lasted less than a minute.

Seeing their unloved landlord laid out on the ground shocked quite a lot of the townsfolk but then all at once a deafening cheer went up that actually hurt Sasuke's ears.

He watched distantly as Amaya, smiling, ran over to her champion and threw her arms around him causing him a little pain and planted a long slow kiss on his cheek. Then the crowd surged forward all apparently eager to slap Naruto on the back or else put the boot into their landlord while he was safely unconscious.

Sasuke resisted the flow of the crowd around him and stood still, arms across his chest and eyes narrowed. He had known Naruto would win, but he had also hoped that Naruto might learn something from this. Somehow he now doubted that was likely.

Sasuke had warned Naruto not to play the hero and sure, the dobe hadn't gone on a one man rampage to free the entire country, but his little show of bravado was sure to upset Sachio's future dealings with his tenants. And if Naruto realised this, his smugness, the knowledge that he had managed to not only give Amaya her freedom but give confidence to an entire town, was going to be hard to live with.

Sasuke had long since lost sight of Naruto in the crowd and was just about to turn and leave thinking that Naruto would eventually come find him later when the high from hero worship had died down. But he'd only just turned when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and looked back into Naruto's bright blue eyes and excitement flushed face. Well the flushed face was probably only partially excitement. The other parts were most likely from being kissed by pretty Amaya and the pain he must be in from cramped muscles and badly broken fingers. Despite all this though he was still smiling.

"Hey don't run off, we gotta talk to Amaya about the border remember?"

No proud boast, no cocky attitude, none of what Sasuke expected right now. Maybe Naruto had matured after all.

"Besides, Amaya is gonna treat us to dinner! Free food!"

Or maybe not.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: Soooooo, Sasuke's spat of violence did sort of work out. Probably not the best moral of the story but who says it will never come back to bite him in the ass? Besides, who reads my stuff for the morals anyway lol.__  
_

_Okay so who knew it would all be leading up to this, Naruto being freed and then saving the damsel from her asshole fiancée? What can I say, I just had to give Naruto a little hero moment, I couldn't help it._

_So before I get the hate mail, yes, Amaya is sort of a love interest for Naruto in a vaguely one-sided way. But no, I'm not about to make her a permanent member of the travelling party. Really all she is here to do is provide a little conflict between the boys. I'm liking that she doesn't like Sasuke and Sasuke really dislikes her. Also I just thought it would be a bit of fun to have a girl completely focussed on Naruto rather than Sasuke for a change and as a subject of contention between the boys. After this part we will be back to Naruto and Sasuke travelling the road alone though so never fear._

_Speaking of which, next chapter is the last chapter for Part 3 and it will basically be rounding up of after fight stuff, a little more with Amaya and finally the usual end of part Naruto and Sasuke conversation._

_Oh and before anyone asks, Remember Me next chapter is almost done after three versions. Hectic couple of weeks, what can I say. The only reason you got this chapter before that one was simply because I had this on my tablet for editing while I was out and not the other and didn't realise it. So hopefully you'll get to see something of that soon either on, or more likely before, the weekend._

_Thanks,_

_Dash._

_**Unsigned Reviews –**_

_**Guest – **No there isn't much about Sasuke that is half assed, I totally agree lol. But I needed what Sasuke did to have an initially positive effect for future plot. Perhaps I did make it a bit too easy in that regard but I hope it played out well for you anyway *looks hopeful* Normally I like twists and turns and something more complicated but sometimes it's just nice to go simple too :)_

_**SnafooCerious – **Thanks! Normally these parts will show up whenever I get the urge to add one but once I've started a part I try to get them posted as quick as I can. As far as boy on boy action is concerned well… not sure what to say. There will be a little tease soon enough (next part actually) but real full on sex-like action might be a while off yet. What can I say, I likes to play with them first haha. Just to let you know as well (and only because I've had some concerns in the past) this is not going to be strictly SasuNaru or NaruSasu. I have no predetermined role picked out for either one and even if I did it is unlikely it will stay that way. Yep, this is a switcher. I don't mean to assume this news would disturb you but it has greatly and quite heatedly disturbed people in the past and I wanted to give you a heads up before you get too invested if you have a preference for a particular way since you mentioned SasuNaru._

_Anyway, I'm really happy you are enjoying the story so far and thanks for the awesome encouragement :)_

_**Yu-chan – **Stupid college, if only they had a Naruto class haha._

_I know, Sasuke just can't resist the persistent charms of Naruto now can he. And the realisation in such a short amount of time too :)_

_Well I guess you found out what happened after Sasuke's actions and I hope you liked it. Hrm, well I want Amaya to seem cute and nice through Naruto's eyes and as you might have noticed, a little conniving and manipulative through Sasuke's. Not saying which is more truthful, I just liked playing with the perspectives lol. Sasuke's not the most accepting and trusting of people though I guess._

_Hope you enjoyed your update!_


	7. Damsel in Distress Ch4

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 3**

**Damsel In Distress**

**Chapter 4/4**

Apparently since Amaya was no longer going to marry Sachio she had to clear her belongings out of the mansion that very day. But she made good time in transporting all her things over to a nearby inn in quick order. Apparently Sachio hadn't regained consciousness by the time she had left him though he seemed little worse for wear other than that. But Naruto couldn't blame her for wanting to leave before a possible confrontation.

So now they sat at a table in the inn, eating their way through the thank you feast Amaya had ordered for him. Beside him Sasuke did little but pick at his food but Naruto was hungry and spent the first ten minutes eating and nothing else. Not even the pain was enough to keep his appetite down which was surprising because he actually hurt a lot.

Sachio hadn't managed to lay a single finger on him and Naruto knew that whatever pain he was in now was entirely self-inflicted. He'd probably managed to re-brake his fingers on his own, his ribs were hurting like a bitch and he had sharp muscle pains mainly in his shoulders and neck. Even now he could feel the muscles jumping under his skin as they constantly cramped up after every little movement. He didn't understand what might have happened with his muscles but he had a good idea that Sasuke knew well enough to judge by the looks he was getting. No doubt once they were alone Naruto was going to get an earful.

But he didn't mind. Sasuke berating him for being a moron and various injuries was pretty welcome. He could almost convince himself sometimes that Sasuke got angry about it because he cared rather than the more likely reason that Sasuke just didn't want him to be deadweight during their travels.

Meanwhile Amaya was smiling at him. "I cannot tell you how thankful I am to you Naruto. You saved me from a nasty man and what I should think would have been a very unhappy life. The chance you took…"

Naruto swallowed his mouthful and grinned at her. "No sweat. You have a chance to escape now right? We have to take whatever chances life throws at us and cherish what we can."

Amaya gave him a warm full smile. Girls didn't smile at him like that very often and he hoped he wasn't blushing because Sasuke would probably stab him with a fork under the table if he saw it.

"You're such a good person. I've never met anyone like you before."

He got the sense all of a sudden from Amaya's tone that this was perhaps a conversation not suited to so many ears. Reizo was sitting next to Amaya, scowling a little in Naruto's direction while Sasuke continued to pick at his food like he was bored. But Naruto noticed the slight tense set to his shoulders that probably wasn't so apparent to the others until Sasuke spoke.

"So you omitted the part about Naruto ending up in jail again because you think so highly of him?" Sasuke questioned. "Or did you just think he might not go along with your scheme if he knew the truth?"

Amaya didn't really look apologetic about it and she gave Sasuke a cold look. "I did not omit anything on purpose. I did not know about that condition. If I had, I certainly would not have put your friend in harms way like that."

"But you did," Sasuke went on as though he didn't believe her. "He was already injured because of you and then you ask him to fight for you as well. That's pretty cold even by my estimation."

Naruto kicked Sasuke's leg under the table. "Sasuke it's not a problem, Sachio was no match. Amaya was just confident in my abilities that's all, right?"

Amaya nodded, still giving Sasuke the look. Sasuke pretended to ignore it, totally unperturbed by her coldness toward him.

"Oh hey Amaya," Naruto began wanting to change the subject quickly before an obviously protective Reizo started glaring at Sasuke too. "You mentioned something about making the border crossing before. Are you still going?"

"To Arrei? Of yes, of course. Our neighbouring country is very different. I was actually born there and still have family near the capital in the east. I plan to cross tomorrow before Sachio has a chance to think of revenge. He can be very vindictive."

"So how are you getting across?"

"Well, along the road of course. All my papers are in order and a town official annulled the wedding contract already. Are you thinking of making the crossing yourself?" Amaya seemed to like that idea.

"Well we'd like to. But uh, we seem to have mislaid out papers. We weren't born in this country either."

"Mislaid them?" Amaya asking in confusion before she seemed to understand the truth behind the statement. "Oh! Well there are always other means to get across if you have the den," she told Naruto lowering her voice and leaning across the table a little more in a conspirital manner.

"How?"

"Well I was looking into the possibility a little while ago of having to do such a thing but the price is very steep. There is a man named Morio who owns a, uh, social club on the outskirts of town. He has a side business delivering weapons to the army on the border. I hear he occasionally uses his delivery methods transporting people across as well. The army turns a blind eye so long as he doesn't appear too obvious due to the fact that he stocks them so well."

"A government aided smuggler?" Sasuke asked sceptically.

"If you are a visitor to this country then I can see how this might appear strange. But our armies are sort of factions in a way. Government sanctioned mercenary companies I suppose would be another apt way to describe them. The government pays them but they do not outfit them so they must get their supplies in other ways. A lot of people make delivery runs up to the border army to supply them cheaply in return for certain concessions. For Morio this is looking the other way while he crosses the border to trade for gems and luxuries to bring back and sell here. He takes his carts of weapons up into the hills, delivers the weapons, goes over the border, picks up what he needs and comes back to collect his payment on the way back through. I hear that sometimes the army pretends not to notice if a crate is left unpacked when he hands over the weapons or comes back a little light. His services are too beneficial for what little concessions they allow him so long as he is discreet and they get their weapons for ludicrously cheap prices."

"Sounds like Morio is just the man to see," Naruto told her warming to the plan.

"He is not cheap though. I made subtle enquires and for both myself and Reizo, he wanted over six thousand den."

Naruto almost bit his tongue. "Six thousand?"

"Of course I did hear rumours that there is a discount for those Morio deems as politically persecuted but I could never find out exactly what that meant and Sen, Morio's aide, didn't seem willing to share this in our correspondence."

Well there was some small hope then. He had no idea what that might mean either but if he and Sasuke could claim this special status there was still some hope left.

"Have you ever heard of anyone making the crossing on their own?"

"I've heard of people trying. They apparently display the bodies along the road to the border," Amaya told him in distaste. "Everyone who I have heard of trying, and I made some serious study into this matter, has ended up along that road."

Naruto sat back in his chair and shared a look with Sasuke. Sasuke had told him that crossing on their own would be near impossible. It seemed he was right.

As they left the inn that night, Amaya came out to see them off. She grabbed his hand just as they were walking away and held it tightly.

"I meant what I said, Naruto. I know it doesn't seem like such a heroic thing, saving a girl from a marriage like that, but you have changed my life. I need you to know what that means to me."

"Well sure," Naruto told her watching her a little unsure at what she was getting at. "I understand. Being trapped like that is no way to live."

"I can never say thank you enough," she continued.

She went on to her tiptoes and Naruto had the sudden impression she was going to kiss him. But before he could get excited by the notion she seemed to change direction and kissed him on the cheek again instead.

"Not that I'm complaining, but is that cheek kissing thing like a weird custom in this country?"

Amaya smiled. "You could say that. Because of the laws it is the most one can do in public to show deep affection or gratitude to another person and is generally shared between friends. Of course if we both cross the border and meet up in Arrei I will be not so limited to show you how much I appreciate you and what you have done for me."

Naruto's brain decided to be confused in that moment. What was she going to…?

It was at that moment he heard a rude clearing of a throat a few paces behind him and realised Sasuke was waiting for him. Impatiently waiting.

"I'm just glad I could help," he told her perhaps a shade too brightly.

She let go of his hand and Naruto and Sasuke started making their way out of town toward their camp.

"You're blushing," Sasuke told him as though drawing his attention to this fact meant that Naruto could somehow stop doing it.

"Well, she just kissed my cheek. Again. Apparently it's like some weird friendship thing in this country. Something about showing gratitude."

"Remind me not to make any friends here," Sasuke muttered.

Naruto snorted. "Somehow I don't think _you're_ in much danger of that."

* * *

To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke waited for their entire walk back to camp before beginning the expected berating about making his injuries worse. Actually Naruto was just stripping down and wondering if he would hurt himself more if he just jumped into the stream when Sasuke began.

"Your muscles are cramped up, aren't they?"

Naruto nodded. "I don't know what happened," he admitted. "But it's not like I did it on purpose teme!"

"No, you just did it because you don't think!" Sasuke told him sitting down on the edge of the concrete that bordered the stream and watched Naruto gently ease himself in.

The stream wasn't real deep and basically only covered him to his waist, but for some reason he felt better about at least having a little shielding as Sasuke seemed intent to rant at him some more. Naruto stopped by the wall and looked up into angry dark eyes.

"I won't slow us up Sasuke, you don't have to worry about that."

"How stupid can one person be?" Sasuke muttered darkly pulling at Naruto's shoulder and forcing him back against the wall Sasuke was sitting on.

Naruto tensed up immediately before willing himself to relax more. It lasted all of five seconds because after those five seconds he felt Sasuke's hands on his shoulders, his deft fingers digging into his sore strained muscles.

"Would you relax?!" Sasuke ordered impatiently.

"I'm trying but I have a psychotic rogue ninja who previously wanted to kill me giving me a shoulder rub. How do you expect me to relax?"

Sasuke's hands stilled for a few moments before continuing their work albeit a little harsher than before.

"You need to unknot the muscles. Besides, we have a temporary truce, remember?"

"Oh right and you're totally trust worthy, aren't you? You keep acting like I shouldn't rely on you," Naruto shot back.

Despite his initial discomfort though and further despite the often painful way Sasuke was digging his fingers into his muscles, it did feel kinda nice.

"When have I lied to you?" Sasuke challenged him.

Naruto wracked his brain for an answer. He was sure Sasuke had lied to him before but the feel of Sasuke's hands on his shoulders were distracting him a lot.

"I _know_ you have."

"When?" Sasuke persisted. "Look, a truce is a truce. I will keep my word, you can trust me on that at least. But the truce is built on the idea of working together to get home. If you don't function to your full potential you are of little use to me and we may have to revisit the terms of that truce. You rely too much on chakra to aid your very movements in a fight, you're used to having it at your beck and call. Today you tried to force your body to react like it would when infused with chakra. Your muscles cramped because you pushed them too hard without the aid they are used to."

"But I can't function to my full potential because I can't use my chakra. That's the whole reason I cramped up like that in the first place, right? I'm sorry if I'm not the master of control like you are Sasuke," Naruto told him sarcastically, "but you must be feeling the loss too. That's why we're helping each other, isn't it?"

"I meant your full potential as you are now," Sasuke clarified. "As if I'd need you at all if I could use my own chakra anyway."

Naruto almost stopped breathing for a moment with the effort it took to understand that he'd heard Sasuke right just then. And when he did he turned around dislodging a surprised Sasuke's hands from him in the process.

"You know what you just said right?" Naruto asked him.

Sasuke looked perfectly mystified for a moment before it eventually dawned on him and he scowled deeply. "I just meant that for the moment we have a use for each other, that's all."

"You said you needed me," Naruto persisted finally getting into a better mood. After all, he'd taken a lot of verbal abuse from Sasuke about belittling their past friendship, how useless he was, how stupid and all the rest. But with one little slip, Sasuke had finally admitted to needing him. It was a good moment for Naruto.

"I don't need you, I didn't mean it like that."

Naruto leaned in closer intentionally invading Sasuke's personal space in order to get his point across.

"Well now I can remember a moment when you lied to me: just now actually."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Fine, so maybe working together makes it easier on us both. But it's not like I'm some lost little puppy that couldn't do this on my own, I just prefer the easier way. Though in light of the last couple of days you're not exactly making this a whole lot easier."

Naruto gave him a knowing grin. "Whatever you want to tell yourself teme."

"Do you mind not being so close?" Sasuke asked pointedly.

Naruto hadn't realised it, but he'd leant in so close to Sasuke he could feel the other's warm slightly quickened breath against his face. He'd even balanced himself by placing both his palms against Sasuke's thighs as he leaned in between them.

He took his hands away quickly and turned away preparing to move away further before Sasuke grabbed his shoulder once again and forced him back to where he had been so he could continue massaging the weak and sore cramped muscles in his shoulder.

His face felt a little hot but thankfully from this position Sasuke couldn't see him.

"You don't have to do that," Naruto told him. "A bit of rest, I'll be okay."

"No you won't," Sasuke corrected him. "You are injured still from your time in jail and you are trying to force your muscles into doing things it cannot do without the aid of chakra. Figure it out moron."

"I can't!" Naruto admitted hotly. "I almost never run out, it's always been there even in the tough fights."

"It's a dangerous thing for a ninja to not be able to cope without the use of chakra. Learn."

"How?"

"You must get a better idea of your body's natural limits that's all. You have to become accustomed to the idea that little is better. The less you have to do to achieve your immediate goals is always the smart plan. This is how most other ninja generally try to work. You are too used to storming in, chakra blazing."

"Like you're one to talk," Naruto told him sourly.

"I will always try to resolve battles the simplest and most chakra conservative way possible."

"Not against me you don't."

"That is because you also have to adjust to the person you are fighting. You use up chakra like its air, there is only one way to combat that and that's with large uses of chakra as well. But normally this is not wise. You have to conserve what you have because you don't know what will come next."

"Well it's not like we have any chakra to conserve now anyway," Naruto pointed out.

"Exactly why you need to shift the way you think. It shouldn't be such a stretch for you to think simple."

"Hilarious Sasuke," Naruto muttered. "I'll try okay, but berating me for it isn't going to help anything."

"At least it took your mind off other things. See, you are more relaxed now."

Naruto hadn't realised it, but Sasuke was right. Already the muscles in his shoulder felt looser and less painful. Now that Sasuke had removed his hands Naruto moved it around experimentally to find it felt almost as good as new.

"Thanks," Naruto told him softly, craning his neck to look up at Sasuke behind him.

Sasuke wasn't exactly smiling, but he did look pretty pleased with himself. "Don't mention it. I mean it. I'm not trying to be nice to you."

He'd said a very similar thing to Naruto in the jail when Sasuke had come to talk to him. Sasuke obviously didn't like the idea of Naruto thinking that he was helping him for any other reason than because he wanted Naruto fit and able to travel and fulfil his role.

But then Sasuke never tried to explain himself, never went out of his way to make sure people didn't get the wrong impression because generally he didn't tend to care what people thought unless it might make him seem stupid, embarrassed or vulnerable. But the only way Sasuke might get embarrassed or feel vulnerable if Naruto got the wrong impression would be that if Sasuke really did… care. Well at least a little.

Over the past couple of days Sasuke had been vigilant in Naruto's recovery. Sure he hadn't shown the care Sakura might and was undeniably rough with both his ministrations and manner. But he applied the funny green cream to his injuries every night and checked over the progress of his healing every morning. It was one thing to want your only ally able to fulfil their role to their greatest potential, but Sasuke did more than just make sure he didn't die. He'd been actually looking after him and it made him readjust his thoughts about Sasuke's gruff attitude.

Of course he could also be reading _way_ too into it, but as always, he chose to be optimistic.

He turned around again to face Sasuke who was eyeing him a little warily considering their last encounter like this. Well Naruto wasn't about to reassure him in any way at all. He didn't know why the hell he was about to do what he was about to do and he knew he might have his nose punched up through his brain for this, but in this moment, with everything that had just happened, Naruto couldn't think of a better way to express his gratitude.

So before he could rethink it, before Sasuke had a chance to stop him, he leant in quickly and brushed his lips across Sasuke's cheek before drawing back again. It wasn't a real kiss, but this was Sasuke after all, he wasn't going to kiss the bastard properly no matter how nice he'd been.

But to say Sasuke looked shocked was an amusing understatement. Amusing because the look told him just how much he'd caught Sasuke off guard, a difficult thing to do sometimes. But then those paler than usual cheeks flushed in anger and Naruto realised he was about to be hit.

"Don't punch me! It's a thing they do here, remember I told you."

"We're not locals dobe! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Amaya told me it's a sign of deep appreciation or whatever. I wanted to say thank you."

"Words work just as well. But don't thank me, I didn't do anything for you. I did it for me."

Sasuke seemed a little cooler for the explanation but only barely. Happily it seemed like violence had been averted though.

"Well whatever the reason, you helped me out. Thanks."

Either Sasuke wasn't used to hearing the word or he was still a little shell-shocked by what Naruto had done.

"Fine, just don't do it again."

Naruto grinned now that he was sure he was safe. "I make no promises. I've never seen you go so white, it was funny."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, a sure sign he was merely just irritated now rather than angry.

"You're way too easily amused. Now finish washing up, you smell like a dumpster and it's turning my stomach."

* * *

_Notes: Haha, I bet you all thought I was gonna turn this fic all hetro for a moment. Aw don't fret there's still potential boy love buried in here somewhere ;) Part 4 has been plotted out already believe it or not. I knew basically what I was doing with that one before this one and it should prove a lot more amusing than this one. This one was sort of a necessary step for future plot but we'll get back into things a little more between the boys next part I promise :)_

_ So part 4 will probably come out in November sometime and we'll get into a bit of a tease moment and deal with the border crossing as well. Should be good fun. Sometime soon I'll put up the usual preview on the Dashdom for those interested. _

_ Till next time,_

_ Dash._

_PS: Yeah I know I made a few words up in this chapter *grins* _

**Unsigned Reviews –**

_**Guest –** Yep, Naruto's just gotta be a hero, just wouldn't be the same :) Yeah you're right, Sasuke isn't the most accepting person in the world so I'm trying to work him into acceptance slowly while trying not to go too OOC with him. _

_I've done a few that are a little complicated so I'm having a lot of fun with the simpler type of story I have to admit :)_

_**Piggy7869 – **Yay, it's always nice to have a few chapters to get into so you can decide whether you like it or not I always think. That way you didn't have too much of a break in between the parts either :)_

_And wow, thanks so much for the amazing words, I really appreciate it! I'm sort of trying to build it up a little slower than usual to develop a better friend bond between them rather than a romantic one at first. I thought it would be good to get a familiarity and care for each other before I start to get too into the emotional stuff I guess. I want them to reach an amazing comfort around each other if that makes sense._

_I'm really happy you are enjoying it so far but of course not everyone is always happy with where I take the story haha. But you get that :)_

_As for Amaya, yeah I more see Sasuke's perspective too sometimes. Obviously she had a motive behind releasing Naruto. On the one hand she may have been genuinely wanting to help Naruto out of his situation but then again it was awfully convenient that as soon as she had him released she wanted him to help her with her situation too. It might have been a win/win situation for Amaya but then again she might have been just as conniving as Sasuke suspects her of being. It's not surprising Sasuke might have that opinion of her considering the circumstances but I don't think she's as bad as Sasuke makes her out to be._

_Haha, I think lots of people are looking forward to some action lol. But little steps first and a lot of teasing along the way should be fun too lol. I'm going to attempt to keep the relationship as equal as possible in lots of ways and I'm going to try to avoid one being too submissive in the relationship for too long in any shape or form. Well that's the hope, we'll see how I actually do in reality lol. _

_Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!_


	8. Morio's Escape Ch1

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 4**

**Morio's Escape**

**Chapter 1/3**

It was still a couple of hours before curfew when Naruto and Sasuke found themselves outside an indiscriminate building staring at boarded up windows and a decrepit looking sign informing them that this was or perhaps used to be a bar called simply 'Morio's Escape'.

"Interesting sense of humour," Sasuke noted dryly.

It had taken a lot of subtle snooping and a few threats of violence on Sasuke's part to even find the whereabouts of this place. Amaya hadn't ever met Morio himself and had only dealt with an aide called Sen and even then by written correspondence only.

"Ne Sasuke, this place looks abandoned. Are you sure about this?"

"The people I questioned weren't lying. Well at least not by the second time I asked the question. Besides, he's a smuggler," Sasuke continued. "Do you really think he's going to advertise his business?"

"Well you can call me stupid if you like, but he did put his name on the sign. Isn't that advertising?"

"Stupid, you have to know the name first. From what I can tell finding that name out is difficult enough. I suppose it's lucky Amaya did so much research for us first. Getting the name would have been the hard part. And it would have to look run down and neglected because bars are not strictly legal here, remember?"

"But Sasuke…"

Sasuke ignored him after that and approached the worn looking door at the front of the building. The building itself opened onto a dark alley way presumably so people could keep their comings and goings secret. There wasn't a lot of light around after it got dark but as he followed Sasuke he could make out a little slot at around head height. When Sasuke knocked a complicated series of knocks, the slot opened to blackness.

"Business?" The darkness asked gruffly.

"We're here to see Sen," Sasuke replied coolly.

Naruto wondered why Sasuke hadn't just asked for Morio himself. He supposed Sasuke was thinking that asking for the boss might seem a little presumptuous.

The darkness regarded them silently for a moment while Sasuke glared back.

"If Sen sent for you he would have told me to expect you."

Well at least they were in the right place. Whoever was standing in the darkness on the other side of the door was pretty stupid for admitting that, even Naruto could see that.

"How else would we know where to find him?" Naruto countered.

The darkness contemplated this for a moment longer.

"What is your business with Sen?"

"Why does anyone come here?" Naruto asked pointedly.

Sasuke turned his head slightly and gave Naruto his best 'shut the hell up' look but Naruto ignored him. All this cloak and dagger stuff was making him nervous. Sasuke might feel at home dealing with the criminal underground, but he was not. If nothing else he hated the uncertainty of not knowing what was going to happen.

"You're customers for the club then?" The darkness asked curiously.

"_Paying_ customers," Sasuke emphasised clearly.

The panel slid closed abruptly and just as Naruto began to figure that they had just lost their chance to get in, the whole door creaked open. Sasuke slipped inside without hesitation but Naruto was a little less eager to step into the darkness after him. But he did so after only a few moments hesitation and the door bumped closed after them. They were left standing in the darkness for about half a minute before another door opened opposite the one they had entered and light flooded into the dark little entryway as well as sound. It was music of a sort, deep and throbbing and unlike anything Naruto had heard before. As he followed Sasuke in through this new door the sound intensified and strange light hit his eyes. The effect was created by an odd mixture of light coming from an even number of white lights to red that resulted in a rather unpleasant mix of reds and pinks.

He had only walked a few steps inside when the door behind him closed and he distractedly walked right into the back of Sasuke who seemed to have stopped dead in his tracks.

"Sasuke what-?"

But as soon as Naruto stepped around Sasuke to see what was the matter he saw what had stopped Sasuke and his own question died on his lips.

"I think we now know why this place is so secretive," Sasuke mused.

The entire lack of women might have been a dead giveaway. The sight of a bar full of half naked men might have been another. The fact that quite a lot of those men seemed perhaps a shade over affectionate with each other just about told the whole story. Or so he thought.

"It's a brothel," Sasuke stated rather calmly.

"How the fuck do you know that?" Naruto asked getting over his initial surprise.

"Notice there is a distinct difference in clothing between what I assume are the workers versus the patrons. Plus a certain subservience too. I think we can assume that the men wearing the sheer white pants are in uniform."

Sasuke had a point but Naruto wasn't quite up to noticing the clothing status of the men in the bar yet. He was a little too fixated instead on what they were doing. There was nothing overtly sexual in the way they touched each other but the extent of touching was something Naruto had not been witness to before between men and women let alone men and men. It took some digesting.

"Let's find somewhere less conspicuous," Sasuke suggested.

Naruto tried not to stare as he followed Sasuke over to the bar. Sasuke sat on a bar stool as cool as can be and proceeded to look like he belonged there. That was one thing Naruto could openly admire about Sasuke, no matter where he was, no matter what the circumstance, Sasuke could act like he belonged almost anywhere if he so chose. It probably had a lot to do with his massive ego and great sense of self-entitlement, but Naruto wished in that moment he could mimic the behaviour. Instead he sat on the stool beside Sasuke and watched his face bathed in a dusky shade of red and tried like hell not to look anywhere else.

"I don't get it," Naruto began, "Our weapons smuggler runs a brothel?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Why not? This entire bar is extremely illegal, breaking at least a dozen laws I remember reading about. Morio is obviously not afraid of breaking a few laws when smuggling so why not this too? It probably makes him more money than smuggling when you think about it. If you are a man who is not interested in women there are no outlets for your preferences anywhere in this country, apart from underground places like this, you would pay a lot of money for the services available in a place like this. Well at least it gives me a greater understanding about what Amaya might have meant about those who are politically persecuted. I had started to think she meant less 'specialised' criminals of the state."

"Well, I am a criminal as far as this country is concerned. You saw the posters Sachio put up."

A couple of days after Naruto's fight with Sachio, Sachio had apparently claimed that Naruto had sabotaged him, poisoning him before their fight. Of course it wasn't true but Sachio's ego had apparently taken a bitter hit and he wasn't about to let the world know he had been beaten so easily. Luckily Amaya had left town the morning after the fight so she hadn't been drawn into it, but Sachio practically owned the town and apparently if he said Naruto had won nefariously, the local guardsmen had to act. Posters with Naruto's face had been plastered around town making the entire town a no-go zone for Naruto apart from after dark. Amaya hadn't been joking when she had said Sachio was a vindictive bastard.

"Yes but I think in light of new developments it has more to do with persecution because of sexual preferences. Not because you've been an overreacting moron with a hero complex."

Naruto frowned at Sasuke. "You can't blame me for Sachio. And anyway, what does your intelligent new insight get us?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"Nothing really. And I _can_ blame you for Sachio. Actually I thought it was pretty clear that I did."

"Bite me asshole."

"Well I suppose that would be one way to use this new insight, as you call it, to our own benefit."

"What? By biting me?"

"Only if you like the rough stuff," Sasuke said smirking.

Naruto spent a good few moments frowning at Sasuke before he simply gave up.

"I don't get it."

"Figures. I just meant we're guys. If Morio offers discounts to guys who like other guys we could always make him think we fit the bill."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at that one. "Funny Sasuke. I doubt you could fake being friends with me for more than ten minutes let alone being in love with me. You almost had a stroke when I kissed your cheek."

"I didn't say we had to be in love with each other."

"Uh huh, sure. And what if Morio wants proof you're into guys? I really doubt he's gonna take your word for it. Heaps of people probably lie to get a cheap trip over the border."

Apparently this hadn't occurred to Sasuke to judge by the ensuing scowl.

"I can fake it," Sasuke stated confidently.

"I doubt you could fake closeness with anyone, guy or girl."

"And you know me so well, huh?"

"Better than you think," Naruto replied honestly.

"Don't be so sure, dobe."

"Okay, prove it. Go feel someone up, I'm sure we've got enough money to spare on a grope or two."

"I'm not wasting money, we might need it."

"Just admit that I'm right."

"Hell hasn't frozen over yet. Besides, if he wants proof, then I will consider proving something. Until then I suggest we just play it by ear."

They spent a few moments longer at the bar trying to look inconspicuous while Naruto failed utterly. He also managed to fail to keep his eyes either glued to his hands or on Sasuke. But he couldn't help looking around himself at the other patrons. Sasuke didn't try to hide his wandering eyes but Naruto was pretty sure his look of interest was faked, or if it wasn't he wasn't interested in the near naked flesh around him. Sasuke seemed to be searching for something and Naruto decided not to interrupt him. Instead his own eyes wandered and let his brain slide into several different states of confusion and weirdness.

He wasn't so naive, he understood that not every man was interested in women. He figured his curiosity had more to do with never having been in a brothel before regardless of whom it catered to. The men in white pants walked around confidently, smiling at the patrons sometimes very seductively. All of them were good-looking men too. One in particular caught him looking and winked at him, which caused Naruto to go red and look away fast. Luckily for him just about everyone in the bar looked red under these lights.

He watched a few men lead patrons through a door near the back where he supposed the real fun was going on and frowned a little. He had only really been ribbing Sasuke before stating that Morio was going to want proof that they were really into this kind of thing but he was only just now beginning to realise how right he might have been. Sasuke might seem confident but Naruto wasn't so sure. About him or Sasuke. Sasuke looked like he was going to hit you if you touched his arm whereas Naruto's current list sexual accomplishments was decidedly blank. Plus what would it even be like to kiss a guy?

His frown deepened when he further realised he already knew the answer to this. Well if you could call mishaps of years past kisses anyway. He really wished he could see the funny in the fact that here they were worried they might have to kiss a guy to prove themselves when they'd already had practise with each other no less. But he was a little too nervous to really be amused.

"I think that might be Sen or another of Morio's aides," Sasuke told him gesturing casually.

Naruto watched the man Sasuke had indicated talk to one of the employees, write something down in a notepad before moving off to talk to someone else. He sure looked like someone who worked here though not in the same way the men in the white pants did.

"We should probably get this over with," Naruto said. "What's the plan?"

"Plan?"

"Well sure, we want the discount right?"

"Let's try just telling him first, if that doesn't work out we might have to either come clean or take it further depending on the reception he gives us."

"Just how far do you want to take this?" Naruto asked a shade nervously.

"As far as we need to," Sasuke replied in a determined tone. "We need to leave this country, the sooner the better."

Naruto followed Sasuke when he hopped off his bar stool and approached the worker he'd singled out.

"Are you Sen? I need to talk to Morio," Sasuke stated plainly, stopping in front of the aide just after he'd finished with another worker.

The aide looked surprised for a second before looking Sasuke over for a few moments more before his eyes flicked over to Naruto as well.

"Looking for work?"

Naruto almost bit his tongue at that question but it didn't seem to faze Sasuke in the least thankfully.

"No. Looking for transport."

The man frowned. "Morio is a busy man. I can try and make an appointment for next-"

"It's an emergency," Sasuke interrupted rudely.

But if the man took offence he didn't show it. Instead he looked at them both again.

"Are you two together?"

It was asked in such a way that even Naruto realised the man wasn't just asking whether they were travelling together. He wanted to know if they were _together, _together.

"Yes."

Well Naruto supposed that was one way to deal with it. What better proof than the say so of your supposed boyfriend or whatever? Well it beat having to kiss someone he guessed.

"Your names? And don't lie, it's only a formality anyway, but it's best not to start the relationship with a lie. It looks unwilling and I'll know if you do."

Naruto was sure Sasuke could have told the man their names were Spot and Rover with a straight face but apparently Sasuke was willing to share if it helped their situation.

"Sasuke. This is Naruto."

"Follow me please."

They were taken to some couches towards the back of the club where a neatly groomed man with dark brown hair and a casual air and smile was talking to an employee. Sen made them wait till the conversation was over before taking them over and introducing the pair and gesturing for them to take a seat.

After Sen relayed Sasuke's request to Morio the man smiled knowingly and sat back in his seat.

"I suppose you heard about our special rates for people in your situation?"

Sasuke nodded. "We need to get over the border. You came recommended by someone for people in our situation."

Morio looked for all the world like a man who hadn't believed them from the moment they had sat down opposite him. Sasuke would have been blind not to see the unbelieving expression and Naruto wondered if this meant they should continue the farce or come clean and hope telling the truth would win them pity points.

"Sen tells me you two are together. But looking at you now I find it hard to believe you two even like each other let alone fuck each other."

It took Naruto's brain more than a moment to turn itself back on and was probably helped along by Sasuke roughly pinching his side where Morio couldn't see.

It was probably nervousness more than anything that made him do it, but he put on a big smile and threw his arm around Sasuke's neck drawing him closer rather aggressively.

"Are you kidding me, in private we can barely keep our hands off each other."

It was like he could hear Sasuke's desperate want to roll his eyes in the soft sigh Naruto heard but he didn't know what else to do but just keep grinning.

"Uh huh," Morio replied obviously unconvinced. "That's strange because to look at you two I would say that you, Naruto, are about a second away from a heart attack which is a good thing because Sasuke looks like he wants nothing more than to kill you for touching him anyway.

"Fine," Sasuke admitted removing Naruto's arm apparently deciding on the truth tactic instead, "We aren't escaping persecution but we do need to get over the border."

So much for Sasuke's bravado at proving himself. Naruto had barely touched him and he'd flaked. Of course Sasuke might also realise that trying to convince someone who knew you were lying would probably not endear yourself to that person much either. But no matter, seeing Sasuke's determination falter so quickly was almost worth it for the ribbing material later.

Morio smiled at them. "Well, walk."

"We don't have papers either," Sasuke told him clearly not enjoying the sharing or admitting how much they needed the help.

"Then how ever did you two get into this country?"

"We'd like to know that too," Naruto muttered before Sasuke pinched him again. "Ow."

"It doesn't matter how we got in. We want to get out."

"How much do you have?"

"A hundred or so den."

"Well to make the crossing, you two are about five thousand den short and that's being generous. You could always come back when you've scraped together the money."

"We can't wander around the countryside," Naruto put in.

"Why?" Morio asked curiously.

But Naruto didn't need Sasuke's pinch to tell him to shut up this time. If they told Morio that Naruto was a wanted criminal he might decide they were worth more to him by turning them in. Risky business for a man like Morio to have anything to do with the government, but perhaps worth it for the bounty.

"We need to get home," Sasuke told him. "We don't have the time."

"Well boys, then I don't know what I can do for you. I've never ferried someone across the border for such little money before."

"There's always Jannison," Morio's aide said, speaking up for the first time since introducing the pair to Morio.

Naruto might not know what the hell Jannison was but the name did give Morio pause and watch both of them speculatively for a moment.

"Well maybe," he said eventually. "But I doubt you two will like it."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked before Naruto could.

"Not a what, a who. And his preferences…well they are getting hard to fill these days."

"He's a client," Sasuke guessed.

Naruto went pale. Did Morio want one or the other of them to whore themselves to some stranger just so they could get across the border?

"Forget it," Naruto said decisively getting to his feet. "Neither of us are fucking some weird client of yours to make up the money."

"I didn't say anything about fucking and whatever you did wouldn't be with him because he'd much rather watch. Never fear, I wouldn't want to stress your straightness," Morio told them both with an odd kind of smug smile.

"Watch what exactly?" Sasuke asked leaning forward.

Naruto wanted to yell at him, what the fuck did Sasuke think he was doing? There was no way either of them were doing anything like this, no matter what. This was way more than just kissing someone.

"He's very specific, he likes to watch inexperienced men and he likes it even more if it seems…reluctant."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Naruto exclaimed wishing Sasuke would just get up so they could get the hell out of here already.

"So?" Sasuke asked.

"So my boys can't hide their experience. They are frankly terrible actors and ones Jannison has seen on multiple occasions anyway. For months now he has been requesting new boys to play out his fantasy with ever increasing amounts of money offered but there is little I can do in a society like this."

"You said no sex?" Sasuke clarified.

"No sex. A blow job or hand job on the star actor will suffice."

Sasuke nodded. "I'll do it."

No wonder Morio thought Naruto looked close to heart failure because he was pretty sure his heart had just stopped entirely. Sasuke seemed determined to get out of this country but this was just too much.

"Tempting," Morio mused. "You are lovely to look at Sasuke, but I can't imagine you would act the innocent boy well enough. Your eyes are too hard. No, this invitation was mainly for Naruto."

And now he'd stopped breathing too.

"Sasuke please get up so we can leave," Naruto pleaded tightly.

Sasuke did get up after finally looking up to see the expression on Naruto's face. But the silent pensive look on Sasuke's face was still unsettling.

"Think on it," Morio encouraged. "Of course if it would smooth things over I can always cast you both if Naruto is going to be shy about play acting with a professional. You want to pretend you are both _that_ close to each other after all, well, here's your chance."

It was about this point that Sasuke had to lead Naruto out of the club with a hand on his arm because Naruto's brain had just shut down as well.

When they got out into the warmer though clearer air outside the club Naruto sucked in a deep breath of air and willed his heart to restart.

"Well, so much for that," Naruto commented forcing a lighter tone.

Sasuke however looked thoughtful as he stared up at the sign of the club.

Naruto frowned. "I'm only going to tell you this once Sasuke, I'm not going to get molested by some stranger while another one watches and strokes his hard on. Actually I never thought that would be something I'd have to tell anyone in my entire life, _ever_."

"We can't get over the border by ourselves."

"We're ninja Sasuke, of course we can!"

"We aren't ninja at the moment, not really."

"We can still fight."

"Not an army."

"Sasuke, no!" He'd meant that to sound firmer and without that note of pleading he'd unwittingly used.

Sasuke sighed. "I don't know what else we're going to do. Maybe we can talk him into using me after all."

"For fucks sake, no!" Well that was firm enough.

"Why not, what do you care?"

"I just do, okay."

"Men and women do this job every day to feed their families and earn a living, it's not shameful or bad if you've chosen to do it of your own free will. Besides, I don't get what the big deal is, it's just for show."

"You of all people can't be trying to talk me into this," Naruto said unbelievingly. "You couldn't even go two seconds in there after all that confidence about tricking him without giving us away."

"So you can think of another option? The more we stay here the more risky it gets. Plus it's not like you have to do anything to someone else, they'll be doing it to you. And there's no sex involved."

"You think it makes it better cause I'm not going to be…"

"Penetrated?" Sasuke offered and it was then that Naruto noticed Sasuke was actually trying very hard not to smile. It was subtle but the amusement was there. Trust Sasuke to actually look amused for once over such an embarrassing thing.

"This isn't funny teme!" Naruto told him trying to sound severe and not to smile at Sasuke's expression. It was too odd though to see Sasuke so amused and the tension from inside the club made him feel like either hitting something or laughing just to ease his emotions.

They watched each other for a moment longer each one trying to keep a straight face before Naruto gave in and started laughing. It might have been a little hysterical sounding on Naruto's part but he was still a little freaked out. However, the tension break did him wonders and when he looked at Sasuke again he saw Sasuke actually smiling.

"You wouldn't be balking about it if it was some girl that was going to be jerking you off," Sasuke told him.

"Yes I would," Naruto replied before thinking. But it was true, it didn't really matter to him who was going to be doing whatever to him just that it was happening. Guy or girl, it made little difference, it was still going to be uncomfortable and forced.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. "Well whatever, we should get out of town, the curfew is about to begin."

TBC

* * *

_Notes: Wow, I think that was perhaps my first ever chapter entirely done in one scene... Well nice to see Sasuke easing up a little more, but poor Naruto is hardly in a state to enjoy it much haha. Well I promised a brothel eventually and here it is. Probably not quite what everyone was expecting, well except one of you perhaps ;) but hey, too amusing a situation to let pass by. And Sasuke sure seems determined to either talk Naruto into erm… performing. Gee I wonder why he's so eager to leave the country and I doubt it's because Naruto is a wanted criminal. Oh well, Naruto seems determined not to play act for Morio's client but somehow I think Sasuke is just as determined to get out of this place even more. Well, you'll just have to see what happens!_

_Dash._

**Unsigned Reviews –**

**_Guest – _**_Well I'm not really good at excitement I'll admit. People and situations tends to be more my thing but I'm glad you liked it anyway :) I might have mentioned this but the relationship building is going to be a slow affair and I will tease a great deal in coming chapters. Them coming to terms with each other will develop, as you said, in baby steps. I'm trying to develop a level of comfort with each other first as actual friends before anything else happens. I will warn you now that if you're waiting for the actual sex you might be waiting some time yet. As you also said, they are pretty dense about each other and stubborn too lol._

_**Piggy7869** **– **I always try to reply to all of my reviews where I can. You took the effort to review, the least I can do is reply I figure. Besides, rants make my day *big smile*_

_Haha, love jealous Sasuke I just can't help myself even if he may not realise at the moment that he is jealous or why but it's still lotsa fun to play with. _

_And yay, another favourite for the switch around! I don't know I like playing it from both sides because it gives me a chance to get into all sides of the relationship. Plus the whole equal thing seems to suit their personalities nicely too. Hope you enjoyed the update!_

_**Sylver Rain – **Sorry couldn't PM you so I thought I'd reply here instead. And wow thanks, that's so nice. I know I have Sasuke a little OOC but I did warn everyone that I was going to mellow him out more than usual and this is pretty much what I meant. I totally agree that he's not acting completely like himself but I sort of did that on purpose. Like an older slightly – very very slightly – more reformed mature Sasuke if that makes any sense lol._

_I'm glad you like the dynamic between them, I live for the back and forth dialogue, yeah I'm kinda weird like that haha. But anyway, thanks for the amazing words and I'm really happy you are enjoying it so far :)_

_**Yu-chan – **Yay, Yu-chan! Oh you know me, I like the slow tease and if you do too then you should like the next chapter for sure ;) _

_Trying to make Sasuke an inadvertent softy is a lot more difficult than I expected but I'm glad it seems to be working :) _

_Damn universities not catering to our strengths. I had an animation class once where we studied anime but it was Evangelion which wasn't half as fun as if we'd done Naruto instead. *sigh*_


	9. Morio's Escape Ch2

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 4**

**Morio's Escape**

**Chapter 2/3**

They sat under their bridge out of the town's limits and chewed their dinner in silence.

Sasuke was watching the ground in front of him as though he found the pebble near his leg fascinating while Naruto watched Sasuke. The biggest change Naruto had noticed between younger Sasuke and older Sasuke was how thoughtful he'd become. Not in a thoughtful of other people way, but a sitting down and figuring things out way when previously he would have just done whatever violent thing he wanted in every situation, confident in his ability to always survive and think on his feet. And Sasuke still was overly confident in many ways but it was tempered by a caution that Naruto had never seen before. Of course it probably helped that he wasn't quite the same rage fuelled psychopath that he once was either.

But when Sasuke got thoughtful, he tended to stare off at some inanimate object while his thoughts were turned inward. He wouldn't necessarily see the object but it seemed to work as some kind of out of focus center for his thoughts.

Whatever direction his thoughts were taking now must be pretty interesting though because after a few moments Sasuke blinked almost in a surprised way and flushed a little.

"What?" Naruto asked curiously.

"You said you didn't want some stranger to touch you," Sasuke said still staring at his pebble.

"Not this again."

Sasuke ignored his comment and made eye contact even though it seemed a little difficult for him at the moment.

"What if it wasn't a stranger?"

"What, are you offering to be my fellow actor like Morio suggested are you?" Naruto scoffed.

But Sasuke wasn't smiling. "Yes."

At first Naruto figured he'd heard wrong, that Sasuke, despite the look on his face and his general personality, must be joking with him.

"Sorry, you said that into my crazy ear. Say that again?"

Sasuke didn't look impressed. "I'm not a stranger," Sasuke pointed out.

"No, but you're not exactly my dream girl either, no offence. I'm not doing that with you."

Sasuke scowled at him. "What's wrong with me? We've… kissed before, twice."

"Those weren't kisses, they were accidents and you know that. And accidents, I'm pretty sure, you hated even more than me! Sasuke, I know you, and I can't believe you'd want to do that with me of all people."

Sasuke's look had lightened a little but he still didn't look particularly happy. "Okay so maybe I don't. But I'm the best option."

"Why's that?"

"Because with a stranger you wont have any options. At least with me we can fool them."

"What, how?"

"By working on your acting skills. He wants to see some newbie guy get a hand job, fine. I get my hand in your pants, pretend that's what I'm doing you pretend to come and it's done. No one gets molested and the worst thing you have to suffer from is maybe a few kisses and the awkwardness of me getting a little close."

"A little close?" Naruto asked with wide eyes. "Sasuke, you punch people for accidentally bumping shoulders with you. You have more personal space issues than a field mouse in owl country. There is no way you could stick your hand down my pants _or_ kiss me for that matter. I was shocked enough when you were all like 'pick me, pick me' to Morio earlier."

"I hate this place," Sasuke admitted bitterly. "Doing this will bring us closer to home."

"We still don't even know how close or far that is yet for sure. All we have is some vague map and a general direction."

"Do _you_ want to stay here?"

Sasuke had a point. Of all the places to get stuck in this was pretty bad. A martial state with little to no freedom where the soldiers would beat you to death as soon as look at you.

Naruto couldn't believe this, but Sasuke was slowly talking him into it.

"You really think this will work?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"I don't see why not. If we get an instruction we don't like we can always bail later. But there is something we have to do first if we are going to pull this off. Ah, no pun intended."

Naruto smiled ruefully at him. "What?"

"We need a practise run. At least with the kissing."

Naruto laughed out of nervousness. "Wont practising defeat the point of what the guy wants?"

"Maybe, but I'm more worried about you freaking out and losing it when I get close."

"I won't freak out."

"You're freaking out now," Sasuke told him calmly.

Okay, so he was freaking out a little bit. Last year Sasuke had wanted him dead, now he was proposing they make out so Naruto figured he had every right to freak out.

Sasuke scooted closer to him till they were sitting, facing one another, their knees touching. Sasuke reached out and touched the side of his face but Naruto didn't flinch like he might have expected to. The soft touch of fingers against his jaw didn't feel bad, but he could feel his heart race a little as Sasuke leant in and…stopped.

It seemed that despite his apparent confidence he was having a harder time with this than he thought he would. His eyes were locked onto Naruto's and they seemed suddenly uncertain and Naruto wasn't that surprised. What _had_ surprised him was Sasuke's earlier more forward nature. Not that Sasuke wasn't a forward person, but physical contact seemed random with him, always on his terms and almost always only when necessary. Sasuke might have talked big about his willingness to be Morio's happy little worker or Naruto's accomplice but Naruto just got the impression that Sasuke was still coming to terms with just what he would be required to do. So he wasn't surprised when Sasuke hesitated, but he was when he himself didn't. Maybe it was _because _Sasuke had balked. Perhaps there was still a smart part of him that wanted to beat Sasuke at this own game. Well he hoped that was all there was to it.

He'd closed the gap when Sasuke had hesitated, pressing their lips together in a quick chaste kiss before drawing away and trying not to blush fiercely.

He kept telling himself that it should have felt strange, it should have felt wrong but instead he felt almost…comfortable. Embarrassing but not disgusting. Of course this last week had forced them to try and be more comfortable around each other whether they wanted it or not. But he still expected something more shocking than this.

Even though it had lasted only about a second he could still feel the brief warmth and feel of Sasuke's lips against his. The surprisingly yielding and soft touch lingered on his lips for a few moments afterwards and he drew his bottom lip in between his teeth and bit down softly trying to dispel the persistent feeling it left behind.

"This is weir-"

And then Sasuke stopped hesitating. Unlike Naruto he wasn't as gentle or as chaste, his lips pressed against Naruto's and then moved roughly, the borderline aggression forcing Naruto back onto his hands before Sasuke grabbed the back of his neck and drew him closer once more.

Sasuke pulled minutely away, allowed Naruto to suck in a deep breath and bestow a shocked look to Sasuke's glittering dark eyes.

"Open your mouth a bit," Sasuke ordered softly but commandingly.

"Why, what are you going to do?"

"Feed you candy, what the fuck do you think I'm going to do?"

So it had been a stupid question, but he was feeling more than a little overwhelmed by this point and he couldn't help it. It was probably lucky when Sasuke pressed their lips together again so he could go back to not thinking. Well until Sasuke made an angry frustrated noise against his lips and Naruto remembered to open his mouth to the kiss. He felt a tongue slip against his lips and then brush against his own tongue and his eyes dropped closed.

They stayed closed until Sasuke drew away and it took him a couple of seconds to realise he'd been abandoned. His eyes snapped open and he saw Sasuke looking at him with a half smile.

"What?" Naruto asked sharply.

"You look like you've been hit with a bat."

"I feel like it too," Naruto muttered.

"Haven't you kissed anyone before?"

"Of course I have!"

"Not including me," Sasuke added smugly.

"I have! It's just that most people I've kissed have tried to kill me at some point, so excuse me for being a little wary of the experience," he retorted.

"Whatever, but you did it wrong."

Where the actual kissing had failed to freak him out those words did. Go figure.

"Um, was it…bad?"

"Not bad, but not good acting. You can't be that submissive, this has to look like you don't want to be kissed."

Oh right, the acting. "I would have tried if I wasn't just attacked with your lips. Don't worry I think I can manage acting like I don't want you to kiss me when the time comes."

Sasuke's smile, however small it had been, twisted a little. "Good. At least you didn't freak out. I'll tell Morio in the morning that we'll work for him. Get some sleep."

And with that abrupt dismissal, Sasuke got up and went back to where he'd previously been sitting and lay on his side, his back to Naruto, who was by this point wondering what he had said that had obviously annoyed Sasuke so much this time.

* * *

"The room has a one way window where our guest will be sitting for the show. Always be mindful of the angle he can see you from and try to pick positions that will best display yourself to the client. Don't just jump into the action straight away, work up to it, make him believe that the progression of things is natural. The client is paying a lot of money for a mere twenty minute show so make it a good one. He would have preferred longer of course, but seeing as how reticent you were to do this I figured more than twenty minutes might be pushing it."

Morio's litany of instructions seemed to go on for a long time as they walked through the halls at the back of his club. Sasuke had visited him that morning with their deal and it had only taken a day for Morio to send for them. Apparently the client was _very _eager.

"Our client does have a few non-negotiables he wants done though so as long as you follow those we wont have a problem."

"Which are?"

"Well I mentioned the reluctant factor. What that means is that I don't want it to appear to be forced so much as coaxed. I want you, Naruto, to appear to be drawn in to what Sasuke is doing to you like you can't help yourself. Show the odd little act of defiance, but always give in. This is not meant to look like rape."

"That's very…uh…particular," Naruto commented with some nervousness.

"Don't ask me what it is," Morio said shrugging. "But a lot of people seemed to find that kind of seduction hot to watch and hey it pays well so I can hardly complain. The other stipulation is that when you finally get to the big finish, he wants to see as much of Naruto as possible. He wants to see his face and as much of his body as he can so face the glass of the window, it's important."

Naruto almost stopped walking but was helped along again by Sasuke's steady hand against his shoulder.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Sasuke told Morio confidently.

"Oh and before I forget, the client will be able to hear you clearly. If you absolutely must talk to each other in private I would suggest very low whispers or code but mostly I would suggest not saying anything you don't want overheard at all."

"Do we have to do some sort of big act or something?" Naruto asked with a hint of worry.

"No. Look at Sasuke like he's going to attack you, look scared but defiant."

"Shouldn't be too difficult," Naruto muttered earning a look from Sasuke.

"Okay so here's the room," Morio announced stopping by a normal looking white door. "The client is already waiting so don't dawdle."

Morio opened to door and gave Naruto a little shove through before turning back to Sasuke. "This is an important client, please don't piss him off."

When Sasuke stepped in after him the door was closed and Naruto became very aware of a few things. One, the huge mirrored wall on one side of the room opposite the huge red satiny covered four poster bed. Two, that he was now alone in a room with Sasuke in front of that mirror and a huge bed. And three, just how hard it was to breathe like a normal person now in light of the two previous facts.

It was obvious as they stood there and stared at one another that both of them were trying very hard not to look toward the big mirror. Actually seeing the look on Sasuke's normally so carefully blank face made him wonder if Sasuke was having another moment of hesitation. But then Sasuke seem to take a deep breath and harden his features in an expression that Naruto knew too well. Sasuke was determined.

Naruto swallowed as Sasuke took a few steps toward him and didn't have to act much to look wary, afraid and back up a few steps himself. But then the backs of his legs encountered an obstacle which he knew must be the side of the bed and that made it even worse.

It took Sasuke seconds to catch up with him and when he did he showed little of the hesitation of the previous night, he stopped in front of him, reaching forward to pull at Naruto's t-shirt like he could use the cloth to pull him closer but Naruto was steadfast and didn't budge.

So Sasuke stepped even closer himself and leant forward for a kiss and Naruto drew his head back as though he could avoid it. He probably would have managed it too if Sasuke's hand hadn't reached up to the back of his head, almost forcibly drawing his face closer till their lips touched.

The thing was that it wasn't difficult to pretend to be nervous or stand offish towards Sasuke. He just let his edgy emotions act for him and there was really little thinking involved. Last night might not have seemed as creepy as he had imagined and perhaps that was why he felt strange about doing it now. But it was mainly because there was some random stranger watching them and oh yeah, this was Uchiha Sasuke for fucks sake.

He had never really known how to act in front of Sasuke and their relationship had never been even slightly affectionate in all the time they'd known each other, quite the opposite in fact. If somebody had asked him last week who the last person Naruto could imagine to be kissing now, it would have been Sasuke hands down.

Speaking of hands, Sasuke's other hand had slipped beneath his shirt and was trailing upwards, dragging the material with it an exposing his skin inch by inch. So far he hadn't really dared to kiss Sasuke back and when he let up to drag Naruto's shirt up over his head, Naruto placed a palm against Sasuke's chest as the Uchiha let the material fall to the ground.

Sasuke's expression was a little freaky. Naruto knew he was acting but it almost looked… dangerous.

Sasuke went to lean in again but Naruto held him back.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Naruto told him.

The subtle shift in Sasuke's face would have been unrecognisable if you weren't the one standing directly in front of him. The slight rise of one eyebrow was asking a question.

Sasuke didn't seem to know if Naruto was playacting or if he meant it. And honestly, in that moment, Naruto wasn't entirely sure either. Acting or not, this was happening a little too fast and was all a little overwhelming. He tried to focus and calm his mind using every meditation trick he could think of but it just wouldn't work. Eventually his eyes settled onto dark ones and he felt his mind finally ease a little. Weird, Sasuke's eyes never usually worked to calm him like that, possibly because they had used to look at him with such malice. But there was a sort of reassuring confidence there too and right now he even looked a shade concerned. It did wonders for his nerves.

He shook his head just the slightest to show Sasuke he'd just been acting.

"I promise by the end it will have been worth it," Sasuke told him before leaning in against the less resistant Naruto and reclaiming his lips.

For a moment Naruto forgot to feel strange or nervous. He let Sasuke kiss him and after a while remembered to open his mouth and allow the kiss to deepen. He could feel Sasuke's hand on his hip, pushing him backwards and down till he was lying back on the bed, Sasuke braced over him.

Not having that nervous feeling washing over him in full force he started instead to feel a little weird instead about Sasuke pushing him around like this. He never let Sasuke push him around and acting or not he suddenly felt the almost overwhelming urge to take some measure of control back. But he didn't and fought down the urge instead. The less he resisted, the better the act he supposed. And besides, the urge to do anything other than just get it over with as quickly as possible made him feel weirdest of all. This was a play, he wasn't supposed to take an interest at all, right?

Eventually Sasuke sat up and Naruto watched, swallowing thickly as Sasuke untied his own shirt and shrugged it off his shoulders. Then he was back, kissing him moving languidly like you might move against a lover. Sasuke wasn't actually touching him but you'd have to be real close to notice that little fact. Of course they couldn't fake the kissing though, not if it had to seem real and Naruto felt like he was being devoured by his old friend's mouth, explored by his tongue, his lips smooth and soft yet still demanding. His lips left off from Naruto's mouth after what felt like a long time and trailed over his jaw and around until he felt warm breath against his ear.

"You're supposed to be resisting," Sasuke reminded him in a low whisper.

"Fuck," Naruto muttered.

How the hell could he have forgotten that? Well at least he could give in to his urge a little bit.

He pushed at Sasuke, rolling the other's body off him and sat up quickly, moving away to sit at the edge of the bed. Across from him was the large mirror their audience was sitting behind. He tried not to look directly at it, but movement behind him caught his eyes as Sasuke crept over the bed towards him.

"We should stop," Naruto suggested wishing that his voice was a little shaky from acting rather than accident.

Sasuke didn't answer him. He watched Sasuke came to a stop and sat down behind him, an arm coming around to encirle his waist. He almost jumped when he felt a tongue slide up the side of his neck. Sasuke was watching him in the mirror as Naruto watched him. Weird or not, anxious or not it was almost fascinating to see Sasuke like this. It was certainly a side of him that Naruto had never seen and he doubted a lot of people had with the way Sasuke usually treated people and his general unwillingness to get close to anyone. Naruto wondered if it was all an act or if the slightly licentious look on Sasuke face was in any way real.

Then he forced the thought away. Of course it wasn't real.

Sasuke's right hand slid lower, fingers slipping underneath the waist of his pants and Naruto reflexively grabbed his wrist a little harder than intended.

"Stop, don't."

"You really want me to?" Sasuke asked almost teasingly. He was way too good at this acting thing. He had definitely missed his true calling in life.

Naruto made sure he took his time in responding before he replied softly, "No."

Sasuke used his other hand to pry Naruto's fingers loose of his wrist and then held that hand off to the side as though restraining it from impeding him again and let his hand trail lower still.

Sasuke turned his hand inside his pants and Naruto almost jumped again when he felt the briefest touch against his groin. But it had been an accident, Sasuke didn't touch him again but began moving his hand inside his pants, shallowly enough to not give the game away but hopefully realistically enough to fool their onlooker.

Naruto tried his hardest to look like he was being pleasured and not at all going through perhaps the weirdest thing he had ever experienced in his life.

"Moan," Sasuke suggested into his ear.

"Bite me," Naruto suggested rudely right back.

Unfortunately Sasuke actually obliged. Through half lidded eyes he watched Sasuke's mouth descend on his shoulder and then felt a rather harsh sting as Sasuke sunk his teeth in almost hard enough to break the skin. He didn't moan but he did hiss loudly. It probably counted as a sex noise, Naruto figured, but it didn't mean Sasuke had to be so harsh about it. So to prevent further biting, Naruto tried his best to make some aroused noises like he was actually being pleasurably jerked off.

He felt stupid frankly and didn't want to see Sasuke's expression in fear of seeing amusement reflected there. So he sort of laid his head back against Sasuke's shoulder and tried not to think about making a fool of himself.

"Come already, would you?" Sasuke ordered softly into his ear after what felt like an extremely long time.

Oh well, he had made a fool enough of himself, might as well go the whole way. He stiffened his body against Sasuke and made his last moan louder and longer before collapsing his body back against the one behind him.

"See, not so hard after all," Sasuke told him.

He couldn't quite hide his annoyance at being so embarrassed when he muttered back, "Asshole."

He could feel Sasuke shudder against his back with repressed laughing, forehead buried against Naruto's shoulder in order to hide his expression from the client just as the overhead lights switched off apparently signalling an end to the twenty minutes.

Sasuke was actually laughing. It was a pleasant change to his usual personality these days, he just wished Sasuke wouldn't laugh at him and more _with_ him.

"Go fuck yourself Sasuke," Naruto muttered quietly. "It wasn't _that_ funny."

He felt Sasuke raise his head and again the warm breath against his ear as Sasuke replied, "Yes it was."

* * *

To say the walk home was awkward was an understatement. Relief of having the whole thing over and done with had been short lived and afterwards Naruto had a difficult time meeting Sasuke's eye. There were a lot of reasons for it if he thought about it. He was embarrassed for one and for another thing he hadn't expected nor particularly wanted his first proper kiss with someone who had meant to do it, and wasn't trying to actively kill him, to be a forced encounter with another guy just so some perverted stranger could get his rocks off. The only real solace he could take in what had happened was that it had been an act, only for show, and it didn't have to mean anything to him if he didn't want it to.

But that was another problem. It wasn't like the experience had been as horrible as he had expected it to be. Embarrassing sure, bizarre definitely, but not as uncomfortable in the actual moment as he thought it should be. It was weird. Even weirder because it was down to the fact that it was with Sasuke that made it almost okay. Not that he had gotten over excited by the whole thing, the situation not doing it for him on way too many levels. But Sasuke was one of the few people in his life that had seen him at his very best and his very worst so embarrassing himself in front of Sasuke wasn't such a huge deal. Sasuke thought very little of him anyway most of the time, so he doubted it would change his viewpoint of Naruto having heard him fake moan or anything like that. Sasuke himself had acted quite the lecherous personality for a while which was both a little scary and fucking weird but still not exactly mind altering. He'd seen Sasuke in some pretty fucked up mental states before so seeing him play acting a lecher wasn't about to make him think of his friend in a worse way.

So in the end he felt only mildly weirded out by the experience and was far more concerned that he didn't have a stronger aversion to the night's happenings. He supposed in the end he felt so awkward about it because he felt relatively okay about it.

"Try not to think dobe, it makes you look stupid."

It even helped that Sasuke was back to being a jerk, almost like nothing at all had happened.

"Bet a little kiss on the cheek doesn't seem like such a big deal now, does it?"

Sasuke smirked at him. "Annoyed it might not shock me so much anymore?"

Naruto looked over at Sasuke in surprise, the first time he'd looked at his face since they'd finished their act at Morio's.

"It wont?"

"Don't give me a look like I'm giving you permission," Sasuke warned him. "I'm just thinking you'll stop now."

"Don't make it sound like that little friend cheek kiss thing was because I _wanted_ to kiss you. I explained what that was for. You know it's not like I just got something out of my system at Morio's. Trust me Sasuke, tongue kissing you was something that was never _in _my system, believe me."

"Couldn't hurt to hope you might stop. Besides, you were looking like you were over-thinking things, that's never a good sign with you."

"You're going to make another moron joke aren't you?"

"No, just don't want you to over-think things. Don't feel weird about it."

"Why do you think I would?" Naruto asked curiously. "Do you?"

"No. It's easy to dismiss when you know it isn't real."

Naruto wondered if Sasuke had meant it like Naruto imagined he did. Because to his ears it sounded like Sasuke was okay with the closeness so long as it was faked. If he was in a real situation with a real person perhaps he would not have seemed so confident or so in control.

Naruto sighed. He sure wished Sasuke had this epiphany yesterday when they'd first met Morio. If he hadn't flinched then and given his own plan away, tonight might never have needed to happen.

But then it wasn't the first time Sasuke had said he could do something like that without being able to actually do it when the time came. To say it shattered Naruto's view of Sasuke was an understatement. To him Sasuke was always so determined that it seemed as though nothing would stand in his way. But lately he'd begun to realise how wrong that assumption had been. Sasuke wasn't some machine, he could be as uncertain as the next person. It was just that with Sasuke he'd never ever show his uncertainty knowingly. It made him wonder just how well he thought he'd known Sasuke previously or just how much he might have overlooked. Not that these new imperfections were a bad thing, it actually made him happier that he was finally starting to see something real behind the mask at last.

Or perhaps he really was over thinking things.

TBC

* * *

_**Notes: **__Well I had at least two professions of love after the last chapter *grins* but am not sure how much people might love me after this lol. Okay, they didn't really do all that much. But considering where they were in the last part 3 this is a pretty big leap forward into the physical. And I think considering what has happened so far and the awkwardness involved I would prefer that when something actually does happen between them it wasn't a forced experience if that makes sense. It just didn't seem to flow right for this particular fic. This way we could keep it a little lighter but still have a bit of fun. Admittedly, it would have been hotter if something more had happened ;)_

_ Last chapter is the end of Part 4 and I'm not completely done teasing you just yet. Stay tuned for chapter 3!_

_ Big hugs,_

_ Dash._

**Unsigned Reviews –**

_**Yu-chan – **I'm getting the impression you liked last chapter lol._

_Oh yes, believe it, a brothel. That's certainly one way to force a closeness neither of them are feeling right now haha._

_Yeah I made the decision not to have any Sasuke POV for part 3 for reasons that may or may not become clear later so I did need to put in a few signs of something close to reluctance or even perhaps a shade of nervousness in there for Sasuke when I didn't want his exact POV at the same time. Hope it worked out :)_

_Well this chapter wasn't so much the slow tease but would it seem strange that even though I've gone really quickly into the somewhat physical here I still want people to be a little unfulfilled by the outcome. Strange and weird but still something I was trying to do so that even though it all seemed to happen fast it was still more of a tease than anything else. Keen to see if it worked. _

_Yes the balance does work nicely methinks. But I am hoping to bring them into more of a closer sync with each other than before too. Not that I want them to be the same person, but understand the other's motives a lot more._

_Oh you hate Uni now but trust me, you'll miss it at least a little when it is gone. Oh and when you land your dream job at Shounen Jump please take me with you haha._

_**Yamanvie – **I should have PM'd you but I'm lazy sometimes lol._

_Glad you're loving it *big grin* They are so cute, aren't they._

_**Piggy7869 – **Gotta love the awkward situations, it is a fav of mine too :)_

_Really glad you liked the last scene, it was my moment of bonding scene. They have had very few moments so far where they just seem to find common enjoyment over a situation with each other and I wanted to show some progression to their relationship. Even though Naruto was freaking out and Sasuke's, as you said, never ending asshole amusement of the situation, it still seemed to me to be a way of letting them finding a little bit of fun with each other despite the strange situation._

_They probably are my favourite yaoi coupling too. Admittedly though I did read a lot of FFVII fanfiction before I started writing this and those fics gave me a close running second preference with another couple or two that I really enjoy. I also would quite like to do something with another Naruto character too but mostly I can't seem to get away from these two for long enough lol._

_Haha, I was trying to be a little more subtle with my hints though but I'm not the greatest with subtle stuff no matter how hard I try lol._

_Wow, thank you so much. I agreed that the characters weren't absolutely spot on in this fic and I still think that in all honesty. But as you say I was also trying to convey that they are meant to be a little different by this point as well, growing, maturing as people and all that. They've also had a year or so between their big fight and now. So I'm really happy you like the characterisations and thanks so much for letting me know. I'm also really honoured to hear that this fic is your current favourite too. Wow. _

_Lots of people get accounts just to keep track of their favs and get updates. You don't need to be a writer to have an account. A couple of people I share messages with have accounts with no fics so don't let that stop you. _

_And please, I love your reviews, the bigger the better :)_

_**Guest - **Hrm, could that have been mild concern from Sasuke? Maybe it was. Probably not enough to let the matter drop though lol._


	10. Morio's Escape Ch3

_**Happy Birthday Elantrian! This chapter is your second pressie :)**_

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 4**

**Morio's Escape**

**Chapter 3/3**

Naruto eyed the box warily. It looked small, too small for one person to travel comfortably in for any great length of time and if their host was to be believed Naruto would have to spend the next nine hours in one.

In the predawn light, Naruto could see the cart was filled to the maximum with these curious tall rectangular metal boxes. Morio had already told him he conveyed weapons across the border but Naruto had expected to spend his journey in a wooden crate, not these medieval torture boxes. At least he knew the reason for the strange shape of the boxes now, he'd seen a few men loading spears into one earlier. He suppose the fact that they were upright meant they could either fit more into the cart or perhaps it was just for passenger comfort to be able to sit or stand as needed.

"Um, why are all the boxes metal?"

Morio gave him a full grin. "We used to have issues with raiders. Apparently the rebellious factions in the hills take offence at us for shipping weapons to their keepers and used to shoot flaming arrows at the carts trying to set them on fire. We lost a lot of money from that. Metal isn't quite so flammable. And the bolted and locked boxes makes it harder for thieves to steal them too. I won't lie, when the sun is shining on these things for a couple of hours it might get a little uncomfortable but hey, you can't expect real comfort when you're illegally sneaking across the border can you?"

"It's fine," Sasuke cut in looking inside one of the empty boxes.

"Well I'm so glad you fine gentlemen approve. Now if you will…" Morio told them gesturing toward the box.

Sasuke took a small breath and stepped inside the box. Naruto was right, inside the box, Sasuke wouldn't even be able to stretch out his arms. If he was lucky he might be able to sit down though.

It took him a few moments before he realised that Morio was staring at him expectantly.

"Yeah I get it, you're in a rush," Naruto groused. "Where's my box?"

Morio gave him a happy grin. "Right there with your friend."

"What?! No way I-"

But Naruto was cut off when a firm hand on his back propelled him forward into the box. He crashed up against Sasuke's back with a grunt from both of them. He didn't even have a chance to step back out before the opening was sealed up behind him.

An eye appeared through a small hole in the top of the box, the only open window to the outside world and Morio's voice floated down to them.

"Like I said boys, there's little room for comfort in a situation like this."

"You could've at least given us separate boxes!"

"I could have, but I won't. You're already taking up precious space on a loaded wagon. Bear in mind that every one of these other boxes contain more value than you two. This is the discounted fare after all and I only took that small amount of money you offered me because you were both so entertaining for the client. Luckily for you though, he's not so eagle eyed as I am or you wouldn't be getting the trip at all."

Apparently Morio had seen through their little deception at his club. At first he'd been a little angry about it but it seemed as though the client, while annoyed by not seeing the full frontal show as it were, had thought the performance realistic and had been very happy with the performance in general. He had to give Sasuke props for that. Some kisses and some faking had been all it had taken to secure their trip with Morio. Obviously the client watching had been too enamoured with the show to see the little details for what they were even if Morio himself hadn't been.

Morio continued, "You'll both just have to suffer and be glad that I've given you as much as I have."

Morio might be a perverted prick, but he was a perverted prick with a very good point. They had offered him very little money in exchange for this, Naruto could understand why he didn't want to lose even more money by leaving a whole crate full of cargo behind just so that they could be more comfortable. Still, it was hard to be grateful in a situation like this. So he just glared at the eye until it went away, it's owner chuckling heartily.

Meanwhile Sasuke was being very quiet. He'd expected the Uchiha to be even more incensed at the treatment than he was but he hadn't uttered a sound so far. Actually while his back was pressed firmly up against Naruto's chest, Naruto could feel the slightest of shaking.

"You aren't claustrophobic or something are you?" Naruto asked the back of Sasuke's head.

"Shut up and move back," Sasuke ordered tersely.

Naruto tried but as it was his back had only been mere inches away from his side of the box anyway and all he really succeeded in doing was separating them only slightly from one another. But at least now he wasn't pressed up against Sasuke quite so much.

"We don't have a lot of room, sorry. That's the best I can do. Look Sasuke, you better tell me now if you really are claustrophobic."

"I told you to shut up."

Naruto frowned. "Great, this'll be fun. So why the fuck did we agree to get into a little metal box in the first place?"

"Do you see any other way of getting across the border?" Sasuke questioned sharply. "Besides, I didn't think I was going to be trapped in here with you."

* * *

About three hours into the journey made Naruto realise just what Morio had said about the boxes in the sun getting uncomfortable. His muscles were already badly cramping from standing so still for so long and now the air inside the box seemed heated making it harder to breathe and causing them both to sweat profusely. Of course being trapped like this for so long already had made him more comfortable being in such close quarters with Sasuke that even with the front of his shirt soaked in both his and Sasuke's combined sweat failed to gross him out in the least.

At one point Sasuke leant back against him shaking his hands as much as the space would allow.

"Fuck, that's getting hot."

Sasuke had spent most of the trip so far bracing himself with his hands against the side of the metal box in front of him. But the harsh sun was obviously heating the metal and had started to hurt his hands. For Sasuke to even complain it must have been hurting pretty badly.

"I need something to put over them," he continued.

Naruto couldn't think of anything very accessible in their current predicament until his eyes rested on the collar of Sasuke's shirt.

"If I rip your shirt down the back I can probably push it down over your arms," Naruto suggested.

The clothes they were wearing had been hard enough to come by. And considering they had no money anymore it meant they weren't going to be easily replaceable either. So it took some time before Sasuke nodded and leant as far forward as he could so Naruto could get his hands in between their bodies. He gripped the collar with two hands and pulled as hard as he could. Luckily the shirt was thin and cheap and it didn't take too much effort to rip through the collar and keep going. Once that was done he pushed the shirt pieces down over Sasuke's arms till Sasuke could lean back, grab them and wrap the remnants around his hands. When he put his hands up against the metal this time he sighed thankfully.

"I wish we could sit down, my legs are going numb," Naruto muttered. "And it's getting really hot in here too," he added eyeing the newly exposed and very flushed skin of Sasuke's back and shoulders. Sasuke looked like he was suffering and he didn't even seem to be sweating as much as Naruto was so Naruto figured he himself looked like a very ripe tomato right now.

* * *

As time wore on his mouth became dry and he started to feel a little dizzy. He almost missed it when a voice from on top of their box announced, 'water time,' before a stream of water flowed down through the hole.

Though Sasuke had seemed just as out of it as he was, he reflexes were good enough to put his head back and capture a mouthful of water before moving his head away for Naruto to catch some. Naruto wasn't quite as quick though and barely caught enough to wet his mouth before the water flow stopped and the man above moved away again.

The water he had missed had hit the back of Sasuke's neck and ran down between his shoulders and left behind a trail that Naruto leant forward and licked up before it had a chance to escape entirely. He followed the trail up the back of Sasuke's neck to his hair line where he latched his lips and kept sucking as though he could coax more of the refreshing water out of Sasuke's skin with force alone. It sort of worked, his mouth and throat were no longer bone dry but it had hardly been the cool refreshing drink he'd been hoping for. And he was pretty sure that some of the moisture had been Sasuke's sweat anyway because it tasted faintly salty and well, tasted vaguely like Sasuke.

He'd been too thirsty and desperate at the time to really understand what he was doing but surprisingly Sasuke didn't jerk away or yell at him to stop. When he drew away he noticed he'd left a faint red mark on already heat flushed skin on the back of Sasuke's neck.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Just be quicker to get it before it spills next time," Sasuke told him his voice slightly raspy from the heat.

* * *

They were given water the exact same way about an hour later and again, Naruto didn't get there quick enough and the water he'd missed went between their bodies where Naruto had no hope of reaching it.

"Well at least my chest is a little cooler," Naruto commented faintly.

Sasuke craned his neck around and gave Naruto, not really a concerned look but as close as he was capable of before turning his head to face forward again, a huge frown on his face.

The next time they were given water he didn't even get a chance to get any. Naruto watched in an almost haze while Sasuke collected as much water in his mouth as he could.

If Naruto had had more energy he might have been pissed off that Sasuke would be so selfish, but he just couldn't be right now. Sasuke craned his head around again, apparently swallowing half of what was in his mouth, before reaching around and grabbing a handful of Naruto's hair, pressing their lips together firmly and tightly. Naruto opened his mouth to gasp and that's when water flowed into his mouth. Sweet, fresh water. It took all his self control not to choke on the unexpected water but he managed to swallow just as Sasuke drew his lips away. Still a little dazed, he darted his head forward a little to lick up a trickle of water that had escaped out the side of Sasuke's mouth.

"Thank you," he told Sasuke sincerely.

Sasuke didn't reply, just faced forward again.

* * *

When the water came this time Naruto was a little more alert and ready, but Sasuke, still apparently not trusting Naruto's reflexes did the same thing. He collected just about all the water in his own mouth, swallowing half and offered the rest to Naruto the exact same way as before. At least he knew what it was this time and didn't choke on the cool refreshing gift. This time they managed not to spill anything but even though this was more water than he'd been getting before he still felt like it wasn't enough to quench his thirst completely. He found himself sucking Sasuke's lower lip into his mouth as the former drew away, capturing the small amount of moisture left there before letting Sasuke go entirely.

Really this all should have felt stranger to him but really he supposed this was nothing compared to what they'd had to do to 'entertain' Jannison in the club. But that had been just doing whatever they had to get out of their predicament and he supposed this was much the same thing. They were doing what they had to in order to survive. Only this time he didn't feel embarrassed about it, he wasn't performing for an audience and there wasn't anything sexual in this. They weren't kissing, they were sharing water plain and simple. So why the hell was Sasuke giving him this weird look?

"Waste not, want not," Naruto told Sasuke's expression with a forced grin.

"Whatever, just don't do it again."

Naruto was very tempted in that moment to do the very same thing again just because Sasuke told him not to, but pissing Sasuke off right now would probably result in him getting no more water at all the next time. So instead he nodded and tried not to show his amusement at Sasuke's apparent discomfort.

Well up until the point where his legs were starting to pain him in earnest and he just wanted to take his mind of it.

"You know, I don't know why you're so bent out of shape about it," Naruto told him abruptly. "You've had your tongue down my throat remember?"

"So we could get Morio to help us. It was a performance moron," Sasuke reminded him.

"Right and all I'm trying to do is get as much water as I can. It's not like I'm trying to make a move on you or anything. It doesn't mean anything."

"Whatever dobe, I don't care."

"Well obviously you do or you wouldn't have looked all weird about it. For fuck's sake I licked the water off the back of your neck earlier and you didn't really say anything."

Sasuke looked around at him again, a deep scowl on his face. "I knew what you were doing and why."

"And I licked water off your face the time before last and you didn't care."

"I told you, I understood what you were doing. And you weren't getting enough water so you were probably a little out of it."

"Okay, but obviously there's something more personal when I get close to your lips that you don't like."

"I didn't say…" But Sasuke stopped himself before finishing. "Do you want me to help you with the water next time or not?"

"Yes."

"Then deal with it."

Typical Sasuke reaction. If he didn't like where the conversation was going he'd drop the ultimatum and kill the conversation.

Naruto leant back against the wall behind him and sighed deeply. He really hadn't meant to dig at Sasuke so much, but his reactions were pretty confusing without an explanation.

But Naruto kept his opinions to himself until the next announcement of water came and he watched Sasuke collect the water once more, swallow a bit and turn his head. Naruto was about to lean in again when he stopped for a moment, and saw Sasuke's dark eyes watch his lips expectantly.

Expectantly?

Obviously the heat was throwing him a little. So he drank the half mouth Sasuke gave him and drew away quickly lest Sasuke get pissed at him again.

It was weird though, watching Sasuke's half open eyes, slightly swollen wet lips and then he was shocked altogether when he realised he'd intentionally pressed their lips together again for a second time.

Sasuke must have been even more shocked than him though because he hadn't pulled away or even moved an inch in the following minute or so. So curiosity piqued, Naruto didn't draw away either and eventually he did get a response when Sasuke bit him.

He didn't bite real hard but it was a clear warning to back off. Naruto wondered why Sasuke didn't just pull away, he had enough room to do that at least. So Naruto disregarded the warning and instead kept moving his lips against unresponsive ones for a few moments longer. He thought for sure he was going to be bitten again when he slipped his tongue in between parted lips but this was apparently the breaking point for Sasuke who drew his head away quickly and faced forward before Naruto could see his expression. He was breathing a little heavily but then, so was Naruto.

He didn't really understand why he'd done that. He wasn't even particularly sure it was because he'd felt the overwhelming desire to kiss his old friend. Most likely he'd just wanted to test boundaries and get some answers to previously unanswered questions.

Certainly Sasuke had boundary issues but they seemed random and hard to figure out. Really all he'd meant to do was understand things a little better. He'd probably also wanted to know if what Sasuke had said the other night had meant what he thought about faking versus real life.

"Should I blame that on the heat?" Sasuke asked a shade darkly a moment later.

"Probably," Naruto answered truthfully. "Mostly I was trying to work you out. You wont talk to me so I have to figure you out some way. You aren't really claustrophobic, are you?"

"You want to understand _me?"_ Sasuke asked sarcastically. "_You're _the bewildering one. I think you get too much enjoyment trying to confuse me, questioning me and pushing me. I told you not to do that again."

"You told me not to suck on your lips. I didn't, I kissed them," he pointed out, glad Sasuke wouldn't be able to see him flush even more while saying it.

"I really hate you, you know that right?"

"Yeah," Naruto muttered. "I did work that one out pretty easily. I'm not trying to confuse you Sasuke."

"Well just like everything else, you really suck at it."

"Aren't you going to tell me not to do it again?"

Naruto asked after a moment.

Strangely, Sasuke paused for a moment. "Do I need to?"

Naruto hadn't honestly thought about attempting that again. Of course he hadn't really thought about it the first time either.

"Yes."

Sasuke was silent for a good few moments after that. Naruto didn't speak because it was obvious that Sasuke was in deep thought about something.

"If I tell you not to, you'll just do something else like you did last time."

"I'm not that complicated teme. Look if you're _that_ freaked out, just don't share the water next time. I'm a lot more ready than I was before, I'll just try to get some myself."

Sasuke didn't answer him. However, when the water came next time Sasuke shared what he caught just like before. He didn't look wary at all though when Naruto leaned in. But instead of attempting to do something Sasuke obviously didn't like Naruto just took the water without comment or fuss. Of course he might have licked a stray water droplet off Sasuke's lower lip when he drew away but he didn't want to be wasteful of the water now did he?

Surprisingly Sasuke just rolled his eyes at him and Naruto grinned.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Moron," Sasuke replied.

* * *

Over the course of their journey the cart had stopped once before with lots of sounds of unpacking of the other crates, a few raised gruff voices of what Naruto suspected was the army Morio was outfitting, but that had been a brief stop. The next and last stop happened many hours later.

Sasuke had fallen back against him when the cart jerked to a stop and while they were both struggling weakly to regain their balance, the opening behind Naruto was reopened and the pair tumbled out backwards, off the cart and into the dirt behind. Naruto landed on his back roughly but not with as much pain as he felt when Sasuke's weight finished knocking the rest of the air out of his lungs.

The brightness of the afternoon sun glaring down on him, the pain of his back and lingering injuries made Naruto continue to lay in the dirt a little while longer while Sasuke pushed himself up and off him after only a few moments.

"You're here boys, take a look at your new home."

This announcement finally made Naruto open his eyes and force himself painfully to his feet.

As he looked around he noticed they were on a dirt road bordered either side by dense trees. It looked like they were still in the foothills of the mountains in country that wasn't all that unfamiliar to the country they had just been in. His heat affected brain wondered briefly for a moment whether Morio might have duped them. Simply dumped them in a spot somewhere still in Adessa where the soldiers might find them at any moment.

Of course looking at Sasuke he saw that this had occurred to Sasuke as well who was looking around him and then up at the sky probably trying to gauge their position. Thankfully Sasuke seemed satisfied.

"Uh, well, thanks and everything," Naruto told Morio unsure of what else to say.

Morio gave him a broad and slightly creepy smile as he and his men got back onto the cart in preparation for their departure.

"Don't ever mention it to anyone or I'll find you and kill you. Okay boys?"

Naruto blinked at the almost pleasant sounding death threat. "Uh, yeah, okay. Good luck with the smuggling and prostitution and all."

Morio gave him an even bigger creepy smile. "If you ever want more work feel free to drop by again."

Sasuke frowned and Naruto watched dumbstruck as the cart moved off once more.

"I _really_ feel like I need to bathe right now," Naruto said with feeling.

Sasuke snorted in response and took a few more looks around the area, looking for what, Naruto wasn't sure. But now that his eyes were focussing a little better he was surprised at how haggard Sasuke looked. Sure the heated torture box had taken a lot out of Naruto too but Sasuke looked a lot more worn than Naruto might have expected. When they'd first woken up in the clearing almost a whole month ago now Sasuke had looked worse. But that had been temporary and he'd looked like his old self again within ten minutes. Even naked and beaten up, Sasuke hadn't looked so drained as he did now, shirtless, dirty and flushed from the heat. His dark hair hung in thick damp strands around his face and his cheeks looked feverish.

"Or maybe we should just rest up for a moment," Naruto suggested instead.

Sasuke's eyes snapped around to him then and he seemed to take in Naruto's appearance as well.

"You look worse than usual," Sasuke noted in a casually offensive manner.

"Well you don't look so fresh either asshole!" Naruto snapped back.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I don't think we should rest until we locate the river."

Well if Sasuke thought he was strong enough not to rest, Naruto wasn't about to suggest he needed one either.

"Do you even know where the river is from here?" Naruto asked pointedly.

Sasuke took one more quick look around him. "I think so."

Naruto doubted that. Sasuke could have no real idea exactly where they were. But Naruto was too worn to argue further. He saw either outcome as a win win for him. Either Sasuke found the river and they could cool off and get a much needed drink or Sasuke was full of shit and Naruto would get to rub it in for hours later.

So when Sasuke moved off the road, Naruto followed behind him without another word.

* * *

They walked for hours before Naruto was just starting to suspect Sasuke was lost when he opened his mouth to start the mocking and heard something that stopped him from speaking. It was faint still, but the soft murmur of running water could be heard.

"Sasuke, do you hear that?"

"Of course I do. We should be there soon –"

But Naruto had stopped listening. Finding a newfound reservoir of energy, Naruto ran ahead toward the sound. It took him merely a minute to run the distance through the trees but finally he burst out of the cover of the brush onto a rocky embankment.

The river was small as rivers go. The extremely clear water showed Naruto a mostly rocky bottom that was perhaps a little deeper than waist-height only. Here and there the water got shallower as it ran over smooth piled up riverstones creating little pools before running onwards again. To Naruto it looked like just about the best thing ever and he wasted no time running forward again and throwing himself bodily into the water.

The water seemed freezing after the hot air of the day but he didn't care. He spent a good few moments just laying in the water, letting it hold him up before getting his feet underneath him and cupping a few much needed mouthfuls of water and taking a deep refreshing drink.

"Don't choke, dobe."

Naruto raised his head toward Sasuke who had caught up and was watching him with might well have been a faint half smile from the bank. Naruto grinned and blinked water out of his eyes, wading over toward Sasuke, back onto the bank and giving his ex-teammate a big wet hug and an Adessa cheek kiss before Sasuke had a chance to stop him.

"Urgh! Naruto, what is wrong with you?" Sasuke asked pushing him away roughly.

Naruto didn't care, he was too happy and relieved for the first time in many days to care what Sasuke thought. After the cool shock to his system he finally could appreciate how much better things were looking for them both.

He'd never admit it to Sasuke, but he wondered just how well he would have fared on his own. Doubtless he wouldn't have been able to dig up the information on Morio on his own, not to mention not being brazen enough to even think about putting on a show in the brothel. And even if he had he might have died of thirst in the box or never being able to find the river on his own if he'd even gotten that far.

Of course he wasn't going to assume he wouldn't have come up with anything on his own but Sasuke had really shown himself to be dependable, especially in this last trying week, and Naruto felt a lot more thankful to him right in that moment than he was willing to express in any other way. Sasuke might have come through for him but he hardly needed the ego boost nor the gloating privileges that an outright confession might have prompted.

It wasn't like Naruto believed that he had been worthless over the last month either but Sasuke, well, it almost felt like they were really a team again and it made him smile.

"Don't be such a bring down teme, we found the river! You said it yourself, we can use this to find our way to the border of the wind country. We're on our way home!"

But Sasuke didn't smile. With his naked chest and the front of his pants plastered with water from Naruto's impromptu hug he looked neither relieved nor happy about the prospect.

"We're out of Adessa, that's what counts for now."

"As if that isn't worth celebrating on it's own," Naruto persisted unwilling to let Sasuke's mood affect his own.

Sasuke took a deep breath as he surveyed the river. When he looked back toward Naruto he seemed a little less morose at least.

"That's not a horrible thought," he allowed.

Naruto grinned. "That's the spirit! Well, more or less."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at him. "Stop grinning like that, it makes you look mentally ill."

But Naruto only grinned wider.

For the first real time since their trip began it felt like things were finally starting to work out for them.

End of Part 4.

TBC in Part 5.

* * *

_Notes: Well welcome to Arrei and the end of this Part. The next Part entitled 'New Territory' will be a little fact finding about the new country plus a little more on the new territory of their burgeoning friendship. Not exactly excitement galore but informative and hopefully a little sweet and funny. _

_ But anyway we're now out of Adessa which is a good thing and bad. There were a lot of angles we might have explored in such a country but it's a little depressing and it's about time we got back to some simple fun methinks. Adessa only lasted four parts but our new country of Arrei will be a much larger place for them to move through. It may last for up to ten parts just in this country alone though that is not set in stone just yet. I would love to say I plan to have Part 5 ready to post in December but this is a busy month for me and I think a prediction of January is far more likely. It will depend on how quickly I get through Remember Me which I sincerely hope will be done before 2013. Of course once Remember Me is finished the only fics I intend to focus on will be this fic plus a few promised presents I am sorely behind on. Oh and some WNL of course later on. But Part 5 should be posted before I even consider more WNL never fear._

_ Because of my hospital stint I did not get to post a preview of Part 4 on the Dashdom as per usual, but I should at least have one up for Part 5 before December is done for those interested. _

_ So for those of you I won't get to wish this to before the end of the year, Happy Whatever You Celebrate at this time of year or just simply have a Wonderful December for those of you who don't celebrate anything in this particular month. Basically I hope you all have a fantastic month each and every person reading this and I will see you again in 2013 :)_

_Much Love and Many Hugs,_

_Dash._

_ **Guest Reviews – **_

_** Yu-chan – **I did deprive you of smut and for that I deeply apologise, but it's for the good of the plot I promise :) But yes when needing a fix that is certainly a nice scene in 'I Need' to revisit hehe. _

_ In retrospect perhaps I could have added a little accidental touching and it would have fit okay. Ah hindsight._

_ As for on purpose… yes and no. I do want the real thing to be built up I guess, and lots of teasing is sure to accomplish that. Trying not to piss people off while doing so will be the key I guess lol._

_ Oh I don't miss highschool, but I do miss Uni in some ways. Socialising, getting to use my brain in subjects that actually interest me, things like that. _

_ There, as you have probably read by now, will be no lemons nor limes contained in this chapter. Citrus free I'm afraid. This is something you might be waiting a little while for. But if it helps at all in Part 6 we'll see them in sheer loincloths…_

_ Sorry to hear you aren't well, I really hope you start to feel better soon XO_

_**Guest – **Gotta save the good stuff for when it really counts. Plus teasing isn't so fun for me to write anymore if they get to the good stuff too quickly lol. But yeah, from a story point of view I thought it would be a little rushed and not right for this particular story to have them do the deed this early on. _

_And yeah, Naruto does seem a little confused about how to handle it, I wonder why ;)_

_**Piggy7869 – **Now that's exactly the kind of happy I'm hoping to get from this. Big laughter and fun times :) I mentioned this to a few other people that this might not be the only mention of the client so perhaps we'll get a POV description from him in later parts, I haven't completely decided yet, but the idea is slowly grabbing me. And yes, it would be nice to see it all played out from his POV ;)_

_That's pretty much what I wanted, to keep away from the big hot and heavy while still getting them to get used to each other and get some physical closeness in there too. I wasn't too sure about that reaction of Sasuke's at the end though, I wasn't sure if it would be too OOC but in the end I figured Sasuke making fun of Naruto wasn't really out of character and left it in cause it was kinda cute. So I'm really glad it worked for you._

_Well you've read the next chapter now but alas no down and dirty yet. And not for a little while yet. I'm going to spend some time working up to that. _

_And yes, competitiveness will be fun to play with in who might end up the victor here. I have some ideas about the scene itself but am still not completely sold on how it will turn out. But the work up to it will probably give me all the ideas I need ;)_

_Anyway, I will try and deliver on the story and yes, I'm really liking that no matter how much I try and work some Sasuke maturity and growth in there, he'll still stay the same asshole in the end. It's why I loves him lol. _


	11. New Territory Ch1

_**Happy belated Birthday Seph!**_

**The Long Way Home**

**New Territory**

**Part 5**

**Chapter 1/2**

They eyed the fruit for a good long time. It looked weird. On the outside it was yellow, on the inside a kind of deep purple. The skin outside was pretty tough but the inside was soft and juicy looking.

"Are we really there yet?" Naruto asked eyeing the fruit but at the same time feeling his stomach grumble.

"We're there," Sasuke assured him. "It's been days since we last ate."

"Weren't you the one that told me not to eat random things just because I was hungry?"

"You weren't starving then but soon we will be. There is nothing to hunt in this area that I have seen, it's fruit or nothing."

Well since the cautious one of the two of them was willing to risk being poisoned just to eat, Naruto decided to listen to him. He took the half Sasuke held out for him and was just looking up again to ask him which one was going to test it first to find Sasuke had already taken a bite of the soft inside and was chewing experimentally.

Naruto watched him closely for any sign that he was about to keel over but after a few moments Sasuke swallowed and gave the fruit a pleased look.

"It's good."

Eagerly Naruto took a bite. Then promptly spat it out again.

"Gah, Sasuke, it takes like ass!"

"Tastes sweet to me," Sasuke responded taking another bite.

"Fine, ass with sugar. Isn't there anything else?"

"You might have missed the banquet table over by the river."

Naruto gave Sasuke a look. Sasuke was basically saying it was this or nothing. Well he supposed it might be okay but he still waited for Sasuke to finish off his half.

He smiled slightly when he saw the purple train of juice sneak out of his mouth and run down to his chin. It wasn't like Sasuke to eat messily and Naruto spent a few moments enjoying Sasuke's obliviousness before he decided to make mention of the mess.

"You got a bit of juice," Naruto told him motioning.

"What?"

"A bit of… never mind," he said giving up and stepping up to Sasuke and wiping the trail away with his thumb. Absently he stuck his thumb into his mouth and sucked the juice off.

"So what now?" Naruto asked before biting into his half again and making himself chew.

Sasuke watched him with one creased eyebrow before replying. "Do you ever think before you do anything?"

"What?"

"Nothing. We follow the river."

Well, Naruto had already known about that part of the plan. Sasuke had explained to him when they'd first gotten a hold of the maps that following the river, the only really detailed part of his map of Arrei, was their best bet of staying on track, not getting too lost and made the probability of finding towns along the way a lot higher than if they were to just use the sun as a guide. At least this way they had fresh water whenever the needed it.

The further thought had been mentioned too that staying near the river gave them the greatest chance of finding food. Animals had to drink too so they'd figured the odds of hunting dinner would be greatly improved as well. But alas the largest animal they had seen so far had been a small sort of hopping mouse about half the size of Naruto's palm. Naruto had found this out because the little mice were very friendly and tended to hop into his palm when he held it out to them. So even if he had been so hungry to consider eating the meagre meal he found it difficult to associate something so cute with food. Sasuke meanwhile had just discounted the hopping mice as being too much effort for so little food and had instead decided to try his luck with the local flora, something of which until this point he'd been dead set against.

Upon first arriving at the river, the pair of them had spent the rest of the day and the following one resting. It wasn't until they'd started to get hungry that they'd been forced to move on. Plus, Sasuke was still shirtless thanks to their stint in the metal box and the hot sun on his pale skin can't have felt all that nice. After washing his shirt out, Naruto had offered it to Sasuke for the day remembering back when Sasuke had shared the use of his shoes and surprisingly Sasuke hadn't argued or looked offended at the show of chivalry. Clearly the sun was bothering him more than he was admitting. Luckily for Naruto, his skin was more tanned than Sasuke's and the sun didn't really bother him unless he was without shade for a good long time. And besides, the heat hadn't diminished being on the opposite side of the mountains and instead became a lot more humid making him sweat more and being shirtless generally made him cooler because of it.

At the end of the first day of travelling along the banks of the river their pair of them stopped just before sunset so Sasuke would have some time to go over the maps they'd bought with them. Naruto took the opportunity to hunt around for a stick he could whittle down and use as a fishing spear after noticing a few decent sized fish in the river along the way. Unfortunately Sasuke admitted to losing their only knife so Naruto sat down by the river and tried his best to make a point on the stick with a sharp river stone instead.

Once his stick/spear was deemed acceptable, Naruto got to his feet and held out his proud new fishing tool for Sasuke to admire to find the Uchiha to be paying absolutely no attention to him. Instead he sat cross-legged with the map of Arrei spread over his legs, his head bent over it and studying it intently.

"Sasuke, you want fish for dinner?"

Sasuke ignored him at first until Naruto repeated the question in a louder tone and then Sasuke grunted something at him instead.

"Suit yourself," Naruto told him. "You wont be so happy when I'm eating delicious fish tonight and you have nothing."

"There's plenty of fruit," Sasuke reminded him still not looking up.

"Well you can eat the ass fruit if you want but I want real food."

Finally Sasuke looked up at him. "As if you'll catch anything, dobe."

"Whatever Sasuke, you'll see."

Naruto waded into the river with his spear and stopped just before he waded into the deeper water. With the water reaching up to his mid-thigh he stilled his movements and waited to catch sight of dinner.

A few times he did spot a likely target swim past but he managed to miss the fish every time. Thankfully Sasuke had given up watching him though in the first minute and the pair stayed silent until he heard Sasuke folding up his map.

"If we follow the river for another day we should find a road that runs parallel to it that we can walk on," Sasuke told him.

Naruto was a little surprised and turned his head to see Sasuke watching him from the bank, reclined back with his arms bracing him up. It was rare for Sasuke to share information when he deemed it unnecessary or wasn't asked outright so Naruto wasn't sure what the importance of the information was.

"Um, so?"

"Roads mean towns, moron."

Naruto stopped watching Sasuke and went back to looking for fish. "I know you're keen and everything to find civilisation Sasuke, but after Adessa I don't know if I want to find out what this new place is like."

"It's not like you to be cautious," Sasuke observed. "But I suppose even you would learn your lesson after being imprisoned and beaten for days on end."

Well there really was nothing like torture to dampen his natural curiosity when it was just that which had gotten him into trouble in the first place. But he wasn't about to admit it.

"Shut up, teme. You're making me lose my concentration."

"No amount of concentration or wishing for it is going to give you skills you don't have."

"No, but practise does," Naruto shot back.

Sasuke didn't reply but Naruto could still feel Sasuke watching him as he tried for another fish and failed once again.

But Naruto was never one to give up very easily and even though he must have spent over an hour in the river his efforts weren't all for naught when he managed to skewer a fish through the tail.

"Aha!" He cried triumphantly holding up his spear to show the silvery flapping fish to his unbelieving audience.

He waded back in to shore, threw the caught fish and spear onto the bank and sat down next to Sasuke, huge grin on his face. He had to admit, he'd been close to defeat seeing as the sun's light was almost entirely gone by now. But he'd shown Sasuke he could do it and was actually happier about that fact than the idea of having something other than the horrible fruit for dinner again.

"You can admit how awesome I am if you want," Naruto told Sasuke leaning over and bumping shoulders with his unimpressed companion.

"Dumb luck," Sasuke muttered.

"I'll share it if you want," Naruto offered smugly.

"Pass."

"C'mon Sasuke, don't be a sore loser. I got us fish for dinner, you can't be all that pissed off."

"I like the fruit."

Which wasn't a lie. The weird purple fruit had a strange texture not unlike a firm jelly and a taste that was like nothing Naruto had ever tasted before but reminded him faintly of grapes and a hint of something oversweet like honey. He didn't really like the fruit himself and was surprised with Sasuke's general aversion to sweets that his old friend would eat the fruit with every sign of enjoyment. The fruit seemed common enough in the area and Sasuke would always pick one and eat it as they walked whenever the opportunity presented itself.

"Yeah but you can't live on fruit forever," Naruto pointed out finding another sharp stone and setting to work on cleaning out his catch.

Sasuke was watching his hands as he worked and Naruto got the impression that Sasuke's reluctance to share was waning a little. Naruto took pity on him.

"I'll make you a deal," Naruto began. "Tonight we can share the fish and tomorrow night you go hunting. You're better at that than I am and we have to come across something bigger than a mouse sooner or later."

"And just what am I suppose to use?" Sasuke asked pointedly. "We have nothing to hunt with or build snare out of."

"You'll think of something," Naruto replied confidently.

Either Naruto's show of confidence in him or the admittance that Sasuke was the better hunter probably did wonders to ease Sasuke's mood. Eventually he nodded and Naruto grinned.

"It's a deal," Naruto said happily. "You'll hunt and I'll fish and when we can't get any meat we'll eat the ass fruit. See, who needs civilisation?"

"We still need to find towns," Sasuke told him. "Hunting and fishing will take up a lot of time better spent moving. In towns we can stock up on supplies and only hunt and fish as we need it. We can't assume there will always be food around when we want it."

"Alright, fine," Naruto relented. "But if I end up in jail again-"

"I'll leave you there to rot," Sasuke finished for him with a small half smile.

Naruto was too happy to see the smile to get angry about Sasuke's response.

"No way, you'd miss me too much," he joked.

Sasuke lost his little smile for a fleeting moment but it was back again quickly enough. "Don't bet on it."

Naruto cleaned the fish in silence for a while when he was done he stretched his arms over his head surprised at how sore he was. All that time spent standing completely still in the river half bent over had hurt his back and arms.

After a moment more he stood up deciding a quick wash in the river would help ease his slight pain and clean the grime of the day from his body. He undid his pants and let them drop and waded into the water once more. This time he went into the deepest part and lay back, enjoying the feel of the water moving over his hot skin and easing his muscles. He let out a deep heartfelt sigh.

"This isn't so bad," Naruto told the world in general. "Even if we never run into another town until we get back to the wind country I think I could live with that."

The world didn't answer him and neither did Sasuke. He raised his head slightly to see Sasuke had started a small fire and was setting up the fish to cook before getting to his feet and removing his own clothes. Apparently Naruto wasn't the only one who wanted a wash.

This was a first. Normally whenever they did find the rare opportunity to bathe Sasuke would usually wait till Naruto was done before allowing himself to relax a bit. He had wondered at the time whether Sasuke simply did this as a safety thing in case of attack or just because he preferred to have whatever little alone time he could. But tonight it seemed that finally the worry was lifted a little.

And why not? They were a long way from where they started and no longer roaming through hostile country. Well, for all they knew right now. To see Sasuke finally let his guard down eased something in Naruto he hadn't been aware had been bugging him. Of course when Sasuke did rid himself of his clothes Naruto couldn't fail to notice something else.

Sasuke had never been one to carry more body weight than strictly necessary. He'd never been overly muscled, his hips were narrow and his legs slim and tone. But now he looked thinner. Not drastically, but enough for Naruto to notice the change from when they'd first awoken in the field. Annoyingly though he still looked good.

"I suppose it would be nice to get a good meal every now and then though," Naruto added.

Sasuke raised his head as he waded in and frowned when he saw Naruto watching him.

Sasuke wasn't shy about how he looked. He didn't take separate baths from Naruto because of some modesty issue. If anything Naruto was the more body conscience of the two and even he really failed to care if Sasuke saw him naked. It wasn't an issue. Guys saw other guys naked all the time in the public baths and he had never really cared all that much though he wasn't exactly one to parade himself around either. Being around Sasuke gave him even less pause which probably had a lot to do with spending almost the entire day out roaming the woods naked together when they'd first woken. But Sasuke seemed to have no care whatsoever about who saw him and would even sometimes spend an hour after his outdoor bath ranting at Naruto for falling asleep while he was supposed to be on watch. It certainly made for some awkward moments of trying like hell to keep his eyes glued on Sasuke's livid face. Not that he read too much into that, of course not. No matter who was ranting at him naked, standing over him while he was sitting, he figured he'd be just as red faced no matter what considering what was in his line of sight.

But anyway, because of Sasuke's total lack of modesty it had meant that Naruto had gotten to know the sight of his body very well and it also meant he could notice that Sasuke was beginning to look ten or so meals undernourished. He wondered if he looked the same.

He stood up and looked down at himself, running his hands over his ribs to see if he could feel the difference when Sasuke stopped in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"I think I've lost a little weight," Naruto muttered unhappily.

He was still watching his hands when he saw and then felt a paler hand reach out and rest palm flat against his ribs surprising him.

"Perhaps. It's hardly surprising."

Naruto supposed not. The last couple of days especially they had been feeding themselves nothing but fruit and before that their diet had been meagre to say the least.

This news was not good news. Naruto knew that if he lost too much weight it would begin to affect his fitness levels. The last thing he figured he needed right now was to start losing his natural muscle strength on top of losing his chakra too.

"So much for wanting to live off the land," Naruto muttered.

Sasuke removed his hand. "I would have thought you'd prefer going into towns, assuming they aren't like those in Adessa."

Naruto looked up to see Sasuke regarding him curiously. "Why?"

"You seem to like… people."

At first Naruto thought it was a really odd thing to say. Of course Naruto liked meeting new people. Well, most of the time. Perhaps not most of the Adessians. But then Sasuke didn't generally like people much at all no matter the circumstance. So the idea of being a people person was a little lost on him.

"Well sure, but I'm hardly alone _here_ either."

Sasuke lay back in the water much like Naruto had before and smirked at him. "I'm sure you could think of a better person to be trapped here with though. Perhaps another old team mate?"

Again, at first, Naruto didn't get the implication. But after processing Sasuke's teasing tone he could guess what he'd meant.

"Who, like Sakura?"

"You had a crush on her, didn't you?"

Naruto blushed faintly. "I guess being here with Sakura wouldn't be too bad."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that less than wishful statement and Naruto couldn't blame him. He did have a sort of crush on Sakura even now but it was difficult to keep up enthusiasm for it when he understood by now that his feelings were never going to be reciprocated.

No matter what Sasuke did, Sakura would always love him. And as much as Naruto liked her, he didn't like the feeling that someday if he was _really _lucky he might end up scoring second place to Sasuke in her heart. Deep down he knew that all Sakura wanted from him was to be friends, which was becoming increasingly fine with Naruto. But as close as their friendship had gotten he couldn't imagine somehow doing this trip with Sakura. Even moments like this wouldn't be possible just from the simple fact that they could never bathe in the stream together seeing as if Sakura even _thought_ Naruto could see her naked she'd beat ten different kinds of shit out of him. And it didn't help one bit knowing that if it were Sakura here with Sasuke instead of him, Sakura would probably welcome naked bathing time with Sasuke rather than beat _him_ up. The only saving grace in that thought was that Sasuke would probably be completely disinterested in the idea anyway.

"I'm not sure being here with Sakura would be all that comfortable," Naruto elaborated eventually. "I think it's easier being in this kind of situation with you rather than her."

"Easier?"

"Well sure. I do something you don't like, you glare at me and ignore me for half the day. If you're really pissed you'll rant and me for a while. But if I do something Sakura doesn't remotely like she beats the shit out of me. Besides, we're guys, the living arrangements are… easier."

"I guess she wouldn't appreciate it if you stripped off in front of her," Sasuke acknowledged.

"That's a really mild way of putting it. Bet she'd faint if you did it though."

Sasuke grinned, "Jealous?"

"No!" Naruto retorted. "I don't get what's so great about you."

"That's a lie. Otherwise you wouldn't have so persistently come after me like you did."

"Well we were friends," Naruto responded a little sidetracked by Sasuke bringing _this_ particular subject up. "We had a bond. Sakura's all in love with just 'cause you're oh so hot," Naruto told him perhaps a shade bitterly. "I mean she liked you as a friend too but I'll bet she was in love with you because she like looking at you more."

This was confusing. Not only was Sasuke having a strange social conversation with him but he actually looked like he was enjoying himself.

"Hot?"

The bastard was teasing him! No wonder Sasuke looked so amused.

"I was being sarcastic."

But with that, Sasuke looked a little less entertained.

"You really like her, don't you?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. I'd rather be someone's first choice."

"Well she'll never get _her_ first choice if it's any consolation."

Naruto frowned. "She really does love you, you know. Even now, after everything, she still loves you."

"Whatever, you can't make me want her back out of pity."

Sasuke had an annoyingly good point. No matter how much he really did want to see Sakura happy, the simple fact was that if Sasuke didn't love her back there was no reason to force him to feel something for her.

"Okay, I get it. But it doesn't change anything. She's gotta know you don't feel the same about her by now and it hasn't changed her mind. Even if one day something did happen between me and her, it'd still feel like she was settling, you know?"

"You want me to pity _you_ now? I can't control how she feels. Obviously."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "There doesn't have to be a point to every conversation Sasuke, we're just talking. Besides, don't feel pity for me. I remember Amaya liked me a whole lot better than you."

"I remember Amaya being a manipulating bitch too."

Naruto suddenly grinned. "Are _you _jealous?"

"Not hardly. Maybe you should have travelled with her instead. I doubt she would have been so reticent about you stripping off in front of her as Sakura would be."

Now Naruto was confused again. "Why?"

And Naruto wasn't the only one who seemed confused. "You really are a moron. You'd prefer my company to the pretty girl who likes you?"

"Well yeah," Naruto replied obviously. "Aren't you having fun right now?

"No."

"Look, I know it hasn't exactly been easy this last month but I like being here with you. I can't imagine being able to go through this with any of my other friends cause I'm not really all that close with anyone."

"Neither are we," Sasuke pointed out bluntly.

"I guess not, but sometimes it feels like we are. I mean who else are you going to talk like this to not to mention put on that performance for Morio with?"

"It's not because we are close," Sasuke reminded him. "It's because I don't care what you think about me that makes it work."

"Well sure, but it still works right? You make it sound like you not caring what I think is a bad thing. I think it's because you're comfortable enough with me not to worry about it."

"I'm pretty sure it's because you're not even worth consideration to me."

Despite the harshness of the statement, Naruto grinned. "If I'm so beneath your notice then, why are you even talking to me?"

Sasuke abruptly closed his mouth and glared at Naruto. As if to make his point Sasuke got back to his feet and turned his back to Naruto but Naruto knew he'd scored a point himself.

So he stepped over to Sasuke quickly and threw both arms around his shoulders to stop him from moving off.

"You're having a bit of fun, admit it," Naruto told him.

"Let me go before I make you," Sasuke warned darkly.

"At least admit that travelling with me isn't so bad."

After a few moments Sasuke un-tensed and sighed deeply. "It's not completely horrible. Now, let me go."

Naruto brushed his lips across Sasuke's cheek and let him go, standing back and grinning widely.

Sasuke turned on him. "Will you stop doing that!"

"Only when it stops annoying you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and headed for shore.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: So this Part isn't going to be all that literally touchy feely, sorry guys. I sort of need to lay off that for a little while after the overdose of the last part and focus a little more on the budding friendship instead. Plus we need to get a feel for the new country and what it is like, determine their travelling outline and get something into motion that will begin next chapter that will impact on future parts. It's a bit of a set-up Part for a lot of things and is sort of necessary just like Parts 2 and 3 were. Part 6 will be a little more episodic with a problem, solution and loin cloths besides. But there is only two chapters to this part so no fear. And I am enjoying the back and forth too much :) That being said Parts 6 and 7 have been plotted out in quite a lot of detail at this point rather than the vague outline I had before. Now that RM is almost finished I have a lot more time to think about it which is fun. Part 6 will be another short one of about 2 chapters. Part 7 will be longer, three possibly four chapters and will begin a closer aspect to their interactions than before. Vague much? But anyway what I have so far for Parts 6-8 are a lot of fun and 7 and 8 will be less plot problems and more Sasuke and Naruto getting closer Parts yay. _

**Unsigned Reviews –**

_**Helisse – **__I did love the Naruto licking Sasuke scene. Seemed a lot more intimate to me than even the kiss ;)_

_**Piggy7869 – **__Oh yeah, I think perhaps I can top that chapter in time to come somehow *waggles eyebrows* But hey it would have been too soon for how I am planning it if they had sex last chapter. Gotta build that juicy tension lol._

_Admittedly the end of the chapter was a late add on. I knew I needed some sort of scene to round the chapter off plus I wanted a little of the new country in there too and it seemed like a perfect moment to reinforce that they are becoming more and more comfortable with each other, yes despite Sasuke's claims that the affection annoys him lol. I did love that hug too. _

_Yes, glad to be free of Adessa too though it sure did serve its purpose. Suffice to say this new country is a lot tamer but I'll get more into that next chapter. Should definitely be adventurous though. Well I hope so :) _

_As far as their chakra is concerned, I will not leave the issue alone completely and we will see some advancement in that area during their trip through Arrei but mostly I'll save most of the chakra stuff for the next country at this point though that could always change._

_Oh yes, big plans for the tease though perhaps not so much in this part. Part 6 will have a few little teases and Part 7 even more so. By Part 8 or so the teasing will, well, you'll just have to wait and find out ;) Yeah I know, mean aren't I haha._

_**IluvIY17 – **__Haha, but your head is supposed to be in the gutter during such a scene lol. Ah yes, small tastes, that's the aim :)_

_*laughs* tiny cameras with night vision huh? I'm thinking high def with slow action replay as well ;) Oh you know me, water seems to be my kink with these two. I will after all have them following a river for the bulk of this fic and you can imagine the future fun I will have with that too :)_

_**Nemesis Jedi – **__Oh just wait till they come across the Drow *grins* Don't worry I'm joking :) Although you have given me ideas…_

_Sasuke is by this point very used to looking after himself, this is true, plus dealing with the shadier side of life so it made sense to me for him to take a bit more leadership during the first country. Of course with that in mind I have given Naruto a few moments of saving the day and as the story progresses I want to show that while Sasuke is better at the day to day planning, Naruto will often come up with the big ideas when it really counts kind of deal in an effort to level the playing field. But totally, so far, Sasuke has been coming out ahead a little more and you aren't the only one who will notice this. Come next chapter Naruto is going to begin to have issues with this too. I will be also attempting to keep Naruto's ability to charm people, as you will also see next chapter, a factor during their travels but I'll definitely resist taking it too overboard because it'll be more interesting that way hopefully. Your review actually helped me bring out Naruto's charisma a little more in the next chapter and make it a lot more obvious about how it can have its own benefits. So thanks for that, I really appreciated the direction you gave me and you will get credit for that in the beginning of that chapter if that is cool with you :)_

_I think by this point I won't be giving much away other than to say that yes, we will be seeing Amaya again. Though perhaps by that point Sasuke won't be the only one feeling a little jealous ;) _

_Oooo, you noticed Sasuke's lack of reaction… but I suppose there are many things we can blame for this but no, the heat is not one of those things lol. For reasons of not wanting to spoil, I won't go into it now but suffice to say there are a few reasons why Sasuke doesn't just punch him when Naruto gets close to him *grins* As for Naruto, at the moment, you've pretty much nailed it. Naruto isn't really doing anything at this point in any real romantic way necessarily. He's definitely pushing Sasuke and methinks he's far more interested in seeing the reactions than anything overly amorous just at the moment. As for hormones well… yep, you pretty much got that too. I've actually got an entire Part plotted out already that will deal with that side of things ;)_

_As for the orb Naruto found, yes he still has it and yes, he hasn't really thought about it since otherwise no doubt they might have thought of pawning it before now. You are way too observant by far my friend. It will make the odd appearance now and again but for now I choose to be vague about it because it does have meaning for future parts and I don't wish to spoil too much._

_**Peacup teanut – **__Not weird at all, actually I'm incredibly flattered *blushes* Thanks!_

_**Wanderer – **__Yeah, as I mentioned in the notes, I might stray into a little oocness in an attempt to mature them up a little. Glad it still works though and you are right, I think they needed a little mellowing to make it work better too :) Thanks!_


	12. New Territory Ch2

_Thanks to Nemesis Jedi for a helpful pointer for this chapter and the reminder of how having good charisma can have it's own rewards. Much appreciated Nemesis :)_

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 5**

**New Territory**

**Chapter 2/2**

Four days after first finding the river, Sasuke and Naruto got their first glimpse of an actual human being that lived in this country.

That afternoon they had found the promised road that ran more or less alongside the river. It wasn't much of a road truth be known just dirt and small stones that might allow one carriage at a time to pass along it with little room for leeway either side. But Sasuke was glad of the small sign of some kind of civilisation after being on their own in the woods for so long.

But he soon found out as they trekked along into the late afternoon that apparently civilisation didn't use this road after all. There had been no sight of any other person using the road at all and Sasuke found that surprising. Sure it might not be a huge road but the roads in Adessa had hardly been much better and had been almost choked with people on foot travelling along from one town to another.

Oh well, he figured he shouldn't be too discouraged by the differences because neither of them wanted this new country to have any sort of similarity to the last. The lack of people proved nothing in the end but Sasuke hated not knowing what they were walking into all the same.

Naruto must have been feeling the tension too, Sasuke realised. Most of the way he'd kept up his incessant prattle just like always but once they'd found the road, Naruto's chatter had become a little more hesitant and a lot more forced sounding. Sasuke rarely if ever paid attention to what he was actually saying but he realised he must have been listening to the tone of the one-sided conversation if nothing else because he noticed the change in atmosphere almost immediately. Eventually the sound of Naruto's voice dropped off entirely and the pair walked along in silence for almost a whole hour until the quiet started to grate on his nerves.

Okay so more than three weeks ago he'd been annoyed by Naruto's inability to be quiet but as he'd noticed the day he'd tried to leave Naruto behind, by now he'd become accustomed to it. It was like an every day white noise to him like the sound of cicadas chirping on a hot day and when the noise suddenly went away the mood changed and Sasuke felt himself growing tenser. It was almost _too_ silent and a little too eerie for him.

Dusk was fast approaching when the two spotted a dust cloud ahead that signalled movement on the road and both stopped in their tracks to peer ahead. They stayed completely still for a whole minute staring at the dust cloud before Sasuke started to feel stupid. Naruto's silence and his own concerns about their new environment had made him a whole lot jumpier than he'd felt in a very long time and he'd just started to realise how absurd that was. Even without his chakra, who was he to be afraid of anything?

"Don't stare with your mouth open like that, you look retarded," Sasuke informed Naruto.

Naruto quickly shut his mouth and scowled at Sasuke. "Don't pretend you're not nervous."

"I'm not," Sasuke lied. Well it was becoming less of a lie with every passing moment anyway. "A random traveller on the road is hardly going to start me quaking, dobe."

"Then why did you stop dead when you saw it?"

Apparently age had made Naruto a little more perceptive, which was oddly annoying.

"Because _you_ stopped. You seemed like you needed a moment to find your spine."

"Eat me, teme."

And with that Naruto started off at a brisk pace towards the oncoming dust cloud making Sasuke have to jog for a few seconds to catch up. He didn't say anything when he caught up but kept pace with Naruto till the dust cloud got closer and eventually resolved itself into the shape of a old man sitting astride a tired looking donkey heavily laden with chests and sacks. The man plodded steadily toward them and Naruto's relief at seeing that it was just an old man was evident on his face. He smiled broadly and waved to the man heartily.

"Hey old man!"

The old man raised his head toward the sound and Sasuke could see a mop of unruly white hair covered over by a fading grey cap. The man looked mildly surprised to see them but didn't look afraid.

The man halted the donkey next to them in the middle of the road and looked the pair of them over. Sasuke realised they must look worse for wear. They were tired, hungry, mildly sunburnt and Sasuke was still shirtless having given Naruto back his shirt for the day.

Naruto looked at the man brightly though and gave him a big grin that soon faded when the man spoke.

"So where did you two escape from?" The man asked in a slow but at least semi amused voice.

Naruto looked confused by the question but Sasuke saw the joke for what it was. But oh well, they might as well test out the waters now with nothing more dangerous than an old man and an almost dead donkey to bar their path.

"Adessa," Sasuke replied in all seriousness.

Naruto's head snapped around toward Sasuke with wide eyes, obviously surprised that Sasuke had given them up so easily.

But the old man merely raised an eyebrow at him. "Well that would explain why the both of you look half-starved and homeless then."

"Yes, nice catch master sleuth," Sasuke returned snidely.

Trying to be subtle Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist and squeezed hard, either warning him to stop giving away their secrets or stop being an asshole. Sasuke didn't know why Naruto bothered. Sasuke would be the last one to give away a possibly damaging secret except when such information might help more than it hurt. Getting the old man's reaction - a native of the new land - to Adessa seemed worth it for the moment.

"Sorry about my friend," Naruto apologised while Sasuke tried to dislodge Naruto's grip without appearing obvious about it. "We've had a hectic couple of weeks."

"Yeah I can see that," the old man replied eyeing Sasuke in a less than friendly way. "But being in Adessa will do that to a person."

Naruto smiled his best charming smile at the man. "Being new and everything to your country we were wondering if we might talk to you. We've never been here before so it'd be great to get the lay of the land from a travelled man like you."

The man shifted his gaze back to Naruto and a ghost of a smile crossed his features. "You mean _old_ man, like me?"

Naruto grinned. "My teacher always told me that age means wisdom."

The old man chuckled for a moment and smiled. "Your manners might need a bit o' polishin' son, but you seem like a good sort. Here, I was hoping to be well off the road by now but with night coming I gotta camp out. There might be some food and wise words in it for you both if you wanna help an old man out by unloading the donkey for the night and keepin' watch for bandits and the like."

Sasuke scowled. "And what makes you think _we_ won't rob you?"

The iron grip on his wrist tightened to a painful level but he refused to even wince. This old guy had only known them both for a minute and now wanted to share his camp with them. Iit seemed too weird to Sasuke to be on the level.

The old man gave Sasuke the eye again. "Well if it were just you I might have second thoughts right enough."

Naruto's grin turned a little nervous. "Don't mind Sasuke, old man. I think the heat has gotten to him."

Sasuke rolled his eyes but kept silent after that.

* * *

Sasuke trailed along after the pair as they wandered off the road to find a spot to set up for the night chatting away like they were old friends or something. The old guy seemed to like Naruto instantly and he could hear the conversation punctuated with occasional laughter as the pair carried on. He found a spot to sit nearby and watched as Naruto went happily about unloading the man's things and setting up the camp while Sasuke watched with an increasing amount of interest.

He was interested because as the time went on he became less suspicious and more aware that the old man really did mean to help them out. He seemed to be honestly content with Naruto's company and by the time Naruto came over to where Sasuke sat with a steaming bowl of food to give to him, Sasuke realised fully that the man simply wanted to help them because he had taken a shine to Naruto.

Sasuke supposed he shouldn't find this so baffling. Well that wasn't true, he always found Naruto's apparently overt likeableness to other people a little baffling. When they had been younger Naruto had always seemed to leave a place with all its inhabitants completely in awe and in love with him. Sasuke only had the vaguest understanding of why. Back then Naruto had not been the most skilful warrior but his resistance to giving up and inciting others to do the same left people with a sense of hope and accomplishment that they associated with his influence. Sasuke never really got it, but he at least understood the basics of it even if he did think it was all a little stupid.

But even back then it had generally taken time for people to warm up to Naruto. However now Naruto had grown out of first grating on people's nerves and went straight for the adoration part. A warm friendly smile, basically polite with an edge of boyish charm and people seemed to like him from the get go. People saw the open honesty in his face and immediately trusted him.

Sasuke found seeing it in action to be both sickening and wholly fascinating at the same time. It was almost like a magic spell. Sasuke just wished he'd used some of that charm while he was being arrested in Adessa and a lot of bothersome trouble might have been avoided.

Naruto handed him a bowl and sat down beside him. The old man was out of earshot of where Sasuke had chosen to sit. And in the darkness just outside the firelight, Sasuke was pretty sure the old man couldn't see him either.

"I don't think he's gonna kill us in our sleep," Naruto told him as he watched Sasuke watch the old man.

Sasuke ignored him and spooned some food into his mouth. It tasted a little gamey but good none the less.

"He's been telling me about the country and stuff. It's pretty interesting," Naruto tried again.

Sasuke continued to eat.

"Apparently Arrei isn't like Adessa with the crazy laws and stuff. It seems pretty normal really. Except there's an upper class and a lower class where the upper class is really rich and the lower class is really poor which kinda sucks but at least we don't have to worry about wearing the wrong thing on the weekend. But of course if you do break the law you'll get arrested by the local guy till a group of wandering lawman come for you and try you."

Sasuke paid quick attention to that news. "Wandering lawmen?"

"Sure," Naruto affirmed apparently happy Sasuke had started paying attention. "They're called Hunters and they have the power to put you on trial and give out sentences on the spot. I 'spose it's like a travelling courtroom only the courtroom can hunt you down if you try to escape. Apparently they're really intense about tracking criminals down too. But the old guy, Teruo, says it isn't so bad. They won't try anyone without really good cause and like I said, the laws here sound like the same ones from where we're from so we're not likely to have to worry unless we do something really bad."

Sasuke didn't like the sound of a band of tracker lawmen who could hunt you down wherever you went hanging over his head. But he supposed in the end it was only something to worry about if he actually committed a crime he could be blamed for. And if necessity drove him to break the law, Sasuke always knew how to cover his tracks and leave no witnesses.

"You should come over and meet Teruo properly. He's pretty knowledgeable about the place but I don't think you made a good impression. I told him you weren't a bad guy but-"

"I don't need you to make excuses for me," Sasuke interrupted.

Naruto gave him an odd look. "Huh?"

"'_Sorry about my friend, we've had a hectic week,_" Sasuke repeated.

"Well it sounds better than, 'oh he's an asshole, please ignore the bastard, he's always like this.' Besides, I wasn't lying. I mean you're not always real nice but your mood isn't helped by the situation much."

"We're not friends, _that_ was a lie," he pointed out. "But I guess you aren't totally useless," Sasuke told him without thought.

Naruto gave him a look of mildly hurt surprise. "What?"

"You give the guy a gormless smile and he's suddenly a wealth of information. It's useful."

Sasuke fully expected Naruto to snap back at him but the angry 'jerk' retort never came making Sasuke move his eyes from the old man to Naruto's face. And for once Sasuke couldn't quite place the expression. He didn't look hurt exactly, he just looked kind of shocked. Sasuke had imagined Naruto would either take offence or alternatively see a compliment in there somewhere that would probably end up with him getting his cheek kissed again but Naruto looked like he wasn't about to do either. Weirdly Sasuke felt at a bit of loss without either annoyance happening.

Eventually Naruto just got back to his feet.

"I'm going to take a leak. Keep an eye on the old guy, kay?"

Without waiting for a response, Naruto headed off into the trees until he was well out of Sasuke's hearing.

* * *

Naruto didn't know how far he walked away from the camp. He didn't mean to go very far, he just wanted somewhere quiet where he could sit down for a moment by himself.

He supposed he shouldn't be shocked by what Sasuke had said. Sasuke obviously thought Naruto's contribution to the expedition was minimal at best and was apparently pleased Naruto had managed to get the information from the old man even if he did snipe about the details.

The problem was that Naruto didn't totally disagree. Oh sure, he came up with a plan or two but he was mainly following Sasuke's lead at this point and that bothered him for a lot of reasons. Mainly it was the feeling that he was less of an equal. Getting Sasuke to admit that they were friends in the past had been trying at best. And he'd only admitted it after he'd seen Naruto as some sort of rival and the only close thing he had to a real friend in the entire village. But if Sasuke didn't see Naruto as an equal now it was no wonder he so pointedly reminded him that they weren't friends either. It had hurt a lot to hear it, even if he'd known it deep down all along. But he also knew he didn't want things to stay that way either.

In a fight they were probably pretty evenly matched. But in the here and now, fighting prowess didn't account for much when what they really needed was resourcefulness and planning. The problem with all that was that Sasuke was resourceful, he was smart and he was good at strategising. When it came down to it, he really didn't need Naruto for that. He'd teamed up with Naruto initially because two were stronger than one. Well perhaps Naruto could even the odds a little more by being the stronger of the two and therefore ready if fighting prowess did once again become a factor.

He sat down on a fallen tree log and tucked his feet underneath him, settling into his meditative state like an old habit. Sasuke's warnings about trying to accumulate nature energy were not forgotten but Naruto didn't really agree on the reasons why it was such a bad idea. Well not entirely.

At the least he'd accomplish nothing. But if Sasuke's theory had any merit, perhaps the energy might be enough to tip the scales a little more in his favour. Perhaps then Sasuke would be forced to see Naruto's worth in their partnership.

It might take quite a few tries, but Naruto figured he could find the odd moment to sneak away as many times as it took to get this right.

* * *

When he got back to camp a little later his head was aching a lot. Luckily it looked like the old man had gone to sleep for the night and Sasuke had rejoined the camp and lain down to sleep on the opposite side of their little campfire.

Well Naruto assumed he was asleep. But when he walked past, a hand darted out quick as a snake and curled around his ankle almost making him fall into the fire.

"Sasuke, what the fuck!" Naruto hissed trying not to wake up the old man.

"That was the longest piss in history," Sasuke noted.

"So? What do you care?"

"I don't," Sasuke informed him releasing his grip. "But your new friend was positive you had been killed by bandits. I spent an annoying half an hour assuring him otherwise."

"Well how were you so sure I wasn't in trouble?" Naruto asked more than a little annoyed himself. After all, Naruto had been gone a lot longer than he'd anticipated and Sasuke hadn't appeared to go looking for him in that time.

Sasuke gave him a strange look. "If I thought you were someone to lose a tousle to a petty bandit group we wouldn't be travelling together," Sasuke told him shortly.

Naruto didn't really have a comeback to that. So while it was true Sasuke hadn't been concerned for his well being, hardly a surprise, he had no reason to be worried anyway because he knew Naruto could take care of himself. It was a form of Sasuke compliment wherein he first verbally slapped you in the face then metaphorically kissed it better. It was a shock to the system of first being hurt then being comforted that never failed to leave Naruto at a loss for words. And even more annoyingly he couldn't even get angry about being slapped after being warmed by the vague praise.

"My head hurts," Naruto said instead sitting on the ground by Sasuke's head and putting his aching head into his hand. Talking to Sasuke had definitely made his headache worse.

Sasuke raised his head and watched him for a moment before ultimately lying down again and rolling over.

"Get over it."

* * *

In the morning Naruto's new friend made a mark on their map noting for them the large town he had just come from telling them both that it barely another day's walk away. He and Naruto shared a few more words and laughter before they waved each other on their way and the two groups went their separate ways.

But strangely after the old man left, Naruto didn't start up his usual daily chattering again and Sasuke was without his white noise once more.

"What did Teruo tell you about the town?"

Naruto looked toward Sasuke's unexpected voice obviously a little surprised by the question.

"A bit. It's pretty big, we should be able to get some more clothes there. He goes there to trade for cloth. Apparently they make a lot of it there, it's what the town is known for. There will be a lot of shops, some slums and a few really big rich houses too."

From the way the information was delivered, Sasuke guessed that Naruto wasn't angry at him so Sasuke let the conversation die wondering why he'd even wanted to know in the first place.

Being at odds with each other wasn't uncommon ground for either of them but if Naruto was going to be pissed at him Sasuke at least wanted to know why. He couldn't work out why Naruto had walked off for so long last night but apparently it hadn't been in a huff like Sasuke had immediately suspected. He just didn't like not knowing. But it seemed moot now anyway as Naruto then began to chat away and Sasuke tuned out.

At least things seemed to be back to normal.

TBC in Part 6

* * *

_Notes: Like I said, it was a set-up part. Not a lot of major headway but I needed to set up the country a bit and a few things that will come into play later. I also wanted to have a chance to show some indication of growing closer as friends (despite Sasuke's claims to the contrary) without it being clouded by too much literal touchy feely if that makes sense. I know a few people are disappointed by the pace in that regard but I really want to not only ease into it but build it up too. Hopefully it will be worth it :) But I'll ease back into that a little during Part 6 and even more so in Part 7. Part 6 will be a little more of an episode structure as the boys struggle to get some funds for their journey while Part 7 will be totally focussed on them, talking, bonding and getting really drunk ;) Parts 6 and 7 should prove to be lotsa fun. On that note both Parts are in some stage of writing already so I am hoping to have Part 6 out before the end of Feb and Part 7 may or may not start around March/April. Probably March._

_Till next time!_

**Unsigned Reviews –**

_**Just a note on these reviews before I begin, I know a few of you have been noticing that your reviews don't pop up straight away. Ffnet seems to be having issues with these reviews at the moment but they will generally come to me eventually. That said, because I sometimes post the chapters for each part pretty quickly so if I miss your review, please don't think I've ignored you. Sometimes I don't get the reviews until a week after they have been posted and sometimes I'm not getting the notices at all. But I'm sure the kinks will be worked out soon :)**_

_** Guest – **__Thanks! Exactly what I was going for, the comfort factor. I want that to play a big part in things to come :)_

_**Wanderer – **__No problems at all, thanks for telling me you are still enjoying it :) Well this chapter won over RM for now, but chapter 22 is getting there and the very next thing on my posting list. _

_**Nemesis Jedi – **__Hehe, yeah, don't worry only joking about the Drow :D_

_ Yes, Naruto will not follow Sasuke's lead all the time. He's pretty conscious about it now, even if it is only partially valid, but enough that it will encourage him to step up more so in the future. The so crazy it works plan is definitely going to play its part. Possibly multiple times ;)_

_ Ah yes the epic cat fight is almost a surety at this point and we'll see whose better at being bitchier when the times comes *grins* I'm looking forward to it myself. But it won't be for some time yet. At the moment we might expect to see Amaya back around Part 12 or so but her and Sasuke won't really get into it until around Part 14ish. Not that she will be in all three parts but she'll show up next around that time. She has big plans for Naruto in Part 12ish, that's for sure._

_ Well I have an entire part dedicated to not only Naruto's hormones but when bought up will start Sasuke feeling some interesting frustrations as well. It'll be a pretty big Part too (well big for this fic) probably about 3-4 chapters long and will be totally focussed on their frustrations. Strange topic for a whole part but hey, I'm a pretty strange person lol. If everything goes to plan it should turn out to be Part 8._

_Ohh you've put some interesting visuals into my head about the shirtless Naruto wandering into town. Bronzed definitely, hair longer, not so much just yet and Sasuke just gave the shirt back so unfortunately clothed at the moment. But it's a really good visual for the future ;) Methinks though in Part 6 there will be enough people staring at his, erm, lack of dress later on *grins*_

_Yes, you've got me there. I intentionally write a lot of scenes from Naruto's perspective as to not give too much away. When I write Sasuke he does tend to be in quite a lot of denial but I at least have him think things through for the most part. But Naruto I write as a bit more oblivious that takes things at face value so he tends not to give too much away when I don't want him to without it seeming too majorly out of character. Well that's what I hope happens. When it is not in Sasuke's POV I can have him say things that seem mean and sarcastic without knowing whether he's really thought about it or whether he really means it. _

_ I did say I was going to mellow Sasuke out a bit and yeah, I tried to keep him as close to character as I could at the beginning and then slowly have him ease up so it wasn't so obvious. Also because I wanted it to seem like he was acclimatising to Naruto's presence as well. I'm hoping to reinforce this by having Sasuke be basically unpleasant to just about everyone else and still have him make the odd nasty remark to Naruto as well just to keep his character more or less in line. But I most definitely want people to see the difference between how he talks to Naruto (which at times can still be a bit mean) and how he talks to other people. In comparison he's going to seem very open and quite a lot more mellow around Naruto than strangers. In the distant future I want it to be a very stark contrast._

_ It's very interesting that I only got to read your review just before I posted the new chapter (stupid lagging with ffnet and unsigned reviews) because I do touch on your point of Sasuke seeing some of the changes between younger Naruto and older Naruto. I want him to see that there have been a lot of changes and that while Naruto is more or less the same Naruto at heart, he has matured a lot and in a lot of different ways. And you're totally right, Sasuke only really knows Naruto well from when they were children and will probably be continuously surprised at how Naruto has grown up a lot more than Naruto will be about Sasuke. Naruto has tried so hard to understand Sasuke, you're completely right and I plan to outline this by Naruto understanding Sasuke a lot more than Sasuke will him. At least at first. I am sort of using the previous canon relationship more than a little for this :) _

_ Phew, sorry I went on didn't I? My bad, but you have a knack for getting me typing lol :D_


	13. Hard Work Ch1

_This is for Sky91. Hugs for Sky :)_

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 6**

**Hard Work**

**Chapter 1/2**

"We need money," Sasuke pointed out patiently.

For some reason this large town they found themselves in seemed to have a thing against leaving washing or other clean clothes out in easy to spot or reach places so Sasuke was still shirtless, they were both hungry and after sleeping so many nights on the hard ground they were both feeling the strong desire to sleep in a bed for once. But they were totally broke without even a single Ryo, Den or whatever the hell it was called here, to their names.

But Sasuke's ideas of solving their cash problems weren't sitting well with Naruto at all.

"I'm not stealing from some random person off the street and taking food from their and their family's mouths just so I don't have to sleep on the ground again," Naruto told him sternly as they walked down the street.

"Whatever. I'll do it and you'll just have to suffer."

"C'mon Sasuke, there's gotta be a better way of getting some money without hurting other people."

"You mean get a job?" Sasuke asked with a sour twist to his features.

"Well, why not? We could earn enough for some clean clothes, some food and maybe even somewhere to stay if we put in a full day."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

So Naruto went off to see about getting some work for the day. He learnt from talking to a few workers around town that the task wasn't actually that difficult since most workers here were hired by the day and there were a few jobs going even for people with little to no basic worker skills. In the end he got them a job washing out dyed cloth in the river which turned out to be surprisingly backbreaking but once Naruto got the hang of it found that he was enjoying having a chance to use his muscles to fight against the flow of the river with the heavy fabric. Sasuke on the other hand wasn't so eager about the work, but went about his tasks without complaining for the entire day, which Naruto was incredibly thankful for. He was also happy that by the end of the day, with their pockets full of money, Sasuke might see the wisdom of Naruto's brilliant plan.

* * *

The sun was already setting by the time the supervisor called a halt for the day. By that point both of them were tired and sore from fighting with the cloth in the streams and were only too eager to join the group of other people around the supervisor to receive their pay for the day. When it was Naruto and Sasuke's turn they both held their hands out while the supervisor put a few coins in their palms before moving along to the next man.

Naruto looked down at his hand and frowned. "Um, there must be some mistake."

The supervisor looked around at him, then at the coins in his hand, then back at Naruto. "No mistake mate. For unskilled day work that's pretty generous around here."

The super moved off as the last man was paid and Naruto and Sasuke were left standing by themselves staring at their palms as though looking at the feeble amount could make it larger somehow.

"Brilliant plan Naruto," Sasuke said acidly. "With our combined income for an entire wasted day we could just about afford either half a shirt or half a meal between us."

Naruto hated to admit it, but Sasuke was right. They'd wasted an entire day because Naruto refused to get money in any nefarious way and all they had to show for it was an amount that probably wouldn't even allow them a single meal to share.

Naruto sighed. "I won't steal from people."

"Yeah, you said that," Sasuke replied in annoyance.

"There's always night work if you two are that hard up for cash," a voice near them interjected.

One of their co-workers from the day was still hanging around behind them where they hadn't seen him having a quiet end of day smoke before moving on.

"Night work?" Naruto asked unperturbed by the intrusion.

"Yeah sure. You two are both young and fit looking. You oughta be able to make more in the nights than you would here."

"Doing what?"

Naruto had asked but Sasuke's expression told Naruto that his companion had already guessed what it entailed.

"Whoring," Sasuke answered scowling at the man.

Naruto's eyes widened dramatically. "Oh, fuck no. Not this shit again! Why does it always have to turn to whoring the moment we find ourselves in a bad spot?"

"Twice isn't always," Sasuke reminded him tiredly.

"Seems like always," Naruto muttered.

The man just grinned and shrugged. "Hey, it's not so bad. I used to do it now and again when I needed to when I was a lad. Good money, sex with rich accommodating strangers, there's worse ways to earn your keep that's for sure. Actually there's a big party on up at the Saito mansion tonight. The lady there throws big lavish parties for the rich and well to do in the town and always hires the prettiest whores for entertainment. Why in a couple of hours you both could be knee deep in pretty ladies who'll pay you good money for a good time. And you both fit the bill, you're both good looking guys. I bet the lady herself would even take a special interest in you," they guy finished with a significant look at Sasuke.

"Ah well, thanks for the tip," Naruto told him quickly before Sasuke could make a snide comment.

He grabbed Sasuke's wrist and began dragging him back toward town. When they were away from the guy Sasuke pulled his arm free but still kept pace with Naruto, a disturbingly thoughtful and somewhat familiar look on his face.

"Ne Sasuke, don't tell me you're actually thinking of doing that are you? I know I said we should earn our money but I didn't mean-"

"I wasn't thinking that, not really."

"Oh good," Naruto said relieved.

"Though I was thinking we should go up to this mansion tonight," Sasuke continued.

"What, why?"

"You said you didn't want to steal from people who would be inconvenienced by it. How do you feel about stealing from people who probably won't notice anything is missing at all?"

"You want to steal from rich people?"

"Why not? They can afford it."

"I don't know Sasuke," Naruto said uncertainly.

Sasuke stopped Naruto and turned toward him, a stern set to his expression. Apparently his patience for the day had finally disintegrated altogether.

"I want clothes, I want to eat real food sometime this week and I want to be able to take a bath that isn't in a cold stream this month. It's petty I know, but those are the facts. I am going up there, I will present myself for a job and once I am inside I will steal anything valuable that isn't nailed down and then hightail it because I am tired and hungry. You do not have to come, you can be rest assured that I will not fuck my way into fortune in case you care, but two hands are better than one and I think doing this may we set us up for the remainder of our journey."

"You want my help?" Was what Naruto's stunned brain got out of that speech.

Sasuke looked unwilling for a moment to confirm that but he seemed to realise that doing so wouldn't do him any favours.

"If we watch one another's backs were are less likely to get caught or be cornered by some horny rich drunk woman trying to grope us in a corner."

"And just how am I supposed to stop someone doing that? Tell them your not really there to sleep with them, just rob them?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"I don't know. Pretend you're a guest and grope me yourself. Tell them you had first dibs, I don't care. It's not like I can make them stop doing it myself without arousing a lot of suspicion."

Naruto's eyes were pretty wide by this point. "You'd prefer me to grope you than some rich pretty horny woman?"

"I'd prefer not to be groped at all, but if I do I'd prefer it done by someone of my choosing who won't expect me to fuck them afterwards. At least you're…familiar."

"Gee Sasuke, way to make a guy feel special."

"Don't be a smart ass, it's just a fact. Now are you in or not?"

Naruto didn't know why, but he had the strongest feeling that this was going to be a really bad idea. But then his stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly and he sighed in defeat.

"Alright, I'm in."

* * *

They cleaned themselves up as best they could before heading back into town and asking directions to the Saito mansion. Apparently there was a path they could follow that led them up to the back of the property where a number of good looking male and female people were waiting patiently.

Looking around at the assembled group Naruto realised they must be in the right place. Most of the men and the woman were all attractive and all under the age of about twenty five. Apparently the mistress of the house liked her entertainers young. Naruto had worried they'd look too scruffy and travel stained to get in, but none of these people seemed particularly up on their luck and looked no better presented than he or Sasuke did. Terou had been right, in this place you were either rich or poor, there was no in between.

Naruto also realised something else while he was looking around that made him pretty uneasy and it wasn't just the resigned looks on some of the faces in the group.

"Uh Sasuke, I don't think this is gonna work."

"Why not?" Sasuke asked impatiently, turning to look at him.

"Look around, all these people are really…well…," Naruto tried again, "I'm not sure I'll get in."

Sasuke didn't seem to understand for the longest moment but when he did he still didn't look any less confused. "You'll get in dobe, stop freaking out."

"I'm not freaking out! Sasuke these people are all gorgeous, obviously this woman is pretty picky. I'm not gonna get in."

"Why not?"

"'Cause I don't look…I mean…"

"You'll get in dobe," Sasuke cut him off.

Sasuke just didn't seem to be getting it and it was making Naruto a little frustrated. "I'm not looking for a self confidence boost here, I'm just telling you the truth."

"I'm not offering to stroke your ego," Sasuke told him bluntly. "But I think your version of the truth is full of shit. I assure you you'll get it so stop going on about it."

Sasuke's little pep talk had drawn a few attentions of those around him most of which seemed haughty and disdainful, but a few were smiling. An especially pretty blond girl next to him even smiled with an added wink.

"He's right you know, you're cuter than most here," the girl told him. "You know sometimes they like to pay us to do things with each other just so they can watch. I will be happy to come find you later if I get such a proposition if you like. _Very_ happy."

Sasuke was scowling over his shoulder at the girl, which was strange considering she'd only helped him with her case. Meanwhile Naruto was flushing a little and trying to look like she hadn't just surprised the ever-living crap out of him.

"Uh, thanks. I guess. Just what kind of party is this anyway?"

"Yeah, I thought you and your friend looked new. Just passing through town?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Well these things, they're not so much parties as orgies really. There's the big ballroom and dining hall in the front section of the house for the regular party but we all get put in the upstairs area where the guests will come up to unwind. We get paid by Lady Saito for the whole night, but the guests will often tip really generously or will even offer you an extra fee to tempt you away from another prospective client. It's really quite fun."

Naruto wasn't real sure about the 'fun' part.

"I'm Suki, by the way."

"Naruto."

"Cause you're new and cute I'll give you a bit of a heads up though. It's not just women you might have to please. The lady gets real nasty if you turn down _any_ guest."

"What do you mean?"

"She means you might have to get fucked by men, dobe," Sasuke told him impatiently.

"Oh, right," Naruto said a little faintly. Not that he should be nervous about that, or any of what this girl was telling him. According to Sasuke they were only going to be here as long as it took to find something worth stealing and then escaping. No orgies, no uncomfortableness and absolutely no getting fucked up the ass by strange men.

"Of course if you do end up in that kind of situation," the girl continued with a slightly lecherous smirk, "_I_ might pay to watch."

Naruto gave the girl and uncertain smile and took a closer step toward Sasuke.

"Sasuke, maybe we should think this-"

But Naruto was interrupted by the doors opening and bathing them all in soft yellow light from the interior of the house. The crowd didn't surge forward, there was no clamour to be picked, they all just lined up to be inspected at the door before they went inside. Apparently Lady Saito would take anyone who looked the part. A man and a woman, servants by the look of the outfits, were giving the prospective entertainment quick examinations before they were allowed to enter. A few who must be regulars were just nodded through, while newbies like he and Sasuke were eyed a little more speculatively.

Both servants seemed quickly happy with Sasuke and motioned him inside without too much hassle and to Naruto's own surprise he got waved in just as quickly. A few in the line weren't quite so lucky and were told they wouldn't be needed but Naruto wasn't amongst them liked he'd feared.

Or was that hoped?

Once inside they were taken to a large indoor bathhouse where they were told to strip and bathe, which Naruto accomplished almost entirely without looking at anyone out of sheer embarrassment. It was probably lucky he was so embarrassed because being in a room naked with so many gorgeous people could result in even more embarrassing issues.

Even confident Sasuke kept his eyes low most of the time though he didn't seem in the least embarrassed by his own nakedness. Naruto couldn't blame him. Even in a sea of attractive faces he was probably the best looking one there with no reason to feel shame about his appearance.

After their bath all the newbies were each treated to a bit of an examination probably to make sure they were all healthy and clean which was uncomfortable to say the least. Naruto was left by the end of it, dressed only in some weird and very sheer loincloth wondering whether there might have been far easier ways to rob rich people than this. Even Sasuke seemed to be rethinking his plan to judge by the annoyed look on his face when Naruto finally caught up with him in the upstairs area a bit later.

The expression didn't last too long when he saw Naruto though and instead got replaced by something a little more unbelieving.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Sasuke questioned sharply.

"Exactly the same thing you are," Naruto retorted a little put off by the behaviour.

"But I can see almost everything. It doesn't cover much."

"Yeah well I can practically see your everything too," Naruto groused. "You've seen me naked plenty of times, don't be such a freak about it."

Sasuke's cheeks actually went a little pink and he turned his head away quickly. "Forget it."

Naruto eyed him strangely. "Is this one of those weird Sasuke moments where something is perfectly okay while something practically the same isn't? Cause it just about did my head in the last time figuring that out."

"Well rest assured, you won't have to kiss me to find out what makes me uncomfortable this time," Sasuke replied acidly.

"Not unless the guests want to watch us do it," Naruto responded a little annoyed himself. "And personally I had enough of that shit with Morio."

"That bad, was it?"

"Not that time exactly cause you had to look into it but generally touching you is like touching a venomous snake when you're not sure whether it's going to like the touch or bite you instead."

"I only bit you once," Sasuke reminded him.

"I didn't mean it literally teme! C'mon Sasuke, this place is weird, I'm wearing nothing but a scarf and I've been poked and prodded so much I feel like I've been violated already except they didn't leave me a very good tip. Can we just cut our losses, be glad we finally got to have a warm bath and get the fuck out of here before this gets even stranger?"

"All the more reason to stay so it wasn't for nothing. I had a look around while you were apparently being violated and there are some big doors at the far end of the hall which I'm guessing is where the Lady's rooms are along with the stairs that lead down to the real party. I think it's our best bet of getting something valuable."

"So what are we waiting for?"

"The doors are locked and guarded."

"Yeah well, I can see the fault in your master plan already."

"Guests also seem to be coming in that way," Sasuke continued ignoring him. "I'm betting they're leaving their clothes somewhere through there as well."

Sasuke was right, after they went over to inspect the doors again an eager guest came through in a robe and nothing else. Luckily for the pair he didn't spare them a look as he went past apparently not interested in anything male. But neither of them failed to hear the door click loudly as it closed behind him.

"Locks automatically," Sasuke observed.

"Thanks captain obvious," Naruto muttered.

Sasuke scowled at him. "Maybe you should go find some girl and fuck her brains out after all, it might put you in a better mood."

"Maybe I will," Naruto challenged turning to prepare to walk away before Sasuke grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Don't be an idiot, I was just joking."

"So? I might as well get something out of this whole thing."

"You don't really want your first time to be whoring yourself out in front of a heap of horny guests do you?"

"Who said anything about my first time?" Naruto asked hotly.

"If anyone has 'virgin' stamped in bright colours across their forehead it's you. You blush at everything."

"I do not! And who cares, my first kiss was already spoiled by you, seems okay that my first time is as well."

He hadn't meant to say that. It wasn't that he felt bad about bringing up the fact that his first kiss had been an embarrassing accidental lip lock with Sasuke himself. He just wished that he hadn't bought it up at all. But instead of teasing him, Sasuke took the unexpected approach.

"Spoiled?"

"Unfortunate wording," Naruto muttered.

"So is this why you don't seem to mind kissing me now, because its already happened and been spoiled so why not?"

"Doesn't seem like such a big deal."

"Flattering," Sasuke remarked acerbically.

"Was I supposed to be trying to flatter you? I just meant that it's you and you're, what did you say before, familiar. You aren't some weird stranger, you're Sasuke and that's, I dunno, sort of comfortable."

"Comfortable?"

"Argh, Sasuke, what's the big deal anyway?"

"So kissing me is no big deal huh?"

Naruto felt the almost irresistible urge to smack his own forehead. "I don't know how to answer that so I don't end up pissing you off more. I only meant to say it doesn't feel all nerve-wracking or whatever anymore. It's like giving a friend a hug, that's all."

"Then you obviously aren't doing it right," Sasuke observed.

"Go fuck yourself Sasuke."

"No," Sasuke replied, his concentration shifting to something over Naruto's shoulder. "I think I might try her instead."

Naruto looked to where Sasuke's was gesturing and saw a lady decked out to the nines in a long sweeping black dress, her neck, ears and hair practically glittering in jewellery and a very pleased air about her. She must have been the only guest so far that hadn't come in wearing a robe and that was probably why Sasuke had singled her out of the ever growing crowd. This person was probably Lady Saito come to check on the starting festivities.

"Your really going to try and…" Naruto asked a little pale. Sure she was a beautiful woman albeit at least twenty years or more older than Sasuke but he hadn't thought Sasuke would go to such lengths just to get a meal.

"I'll try my hardest not to," Sasuke affirmed. "But she's the host, she's probably the most influential here and I doubt she will lower herself to a spectacle in front of her guests. If she wants any fun for herself she'll probably have that fun elsewhere, preferably in her own room."

"So what, get her to take you through the door and past the guards, and then what? I doubt she's just gonna leave you alone to take all her stuff now is she?"

"No, but you're part of the plan too. I will make sure the door doesn't lock behind me. You create a diversion out here to bring the guard away from the door and perhaps even get the lady to leave me alone. You come through the door, take anything you can get your hands on, find me if I haven't found you and then we escape."

"You know for a generally smart guy, your plans are pretty stupid teme. There's too many things that can wrong. What if the door locks anyway? What if I can't make a diversion? What if she isn't even interested in you?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him in that last part. "Who isn't interested?"

The smug jerk bastard with the ego the size of the moon had an annoyingly good point. Pretty much anyone with an eye for the guys liked the look of Sasuke and that wasn't even when he was actively pursuing them. And if he did, the woman would probably faint at his feet.

"Lots of people," Naruto lied.

"We'll see. C'mon it's the best plan we have."

"It's the only plan," Naruto corrected.

Sasuke wandered off over toward Lady Saito while Naruto followed at a discreet distance. Truth be told he was a little curious to see Sasuke really try to attract someone. Usually they chased him and he ignored them almost completely. Naruto had never actually seen Sasuke try to pick up so he figured it might be quite an education.

As eager as he was to see the show however he was more than a little distracted by the unfolding show around him. The entertainment people had only just been filtering in and making themselves at home when Naruto and Sasuke had gone to check out their door to riches. But now that some guests had started arriving the party seemed to be kicking into full gear. Most of the sections of rooms were nothing but low tables with wine jugs, glasses a few assorted nibbles and a hell of a lot of cushions. Naruto was only just now getting a good idea as to why this was. Mostly naked people in couples or even sometimes more were strewn here and there on the cushions and Naruto felt his face go red as he got a good look as to what was going on.

"Holy shit," Naruto said under his breath in amazement both at the display and the fact that people were so openly going about it. Obviously he'd never seen anything like this before and it took him a good few moments to tear his eyes away, refocus his mind and search out Sasuke in the growing sea of faces.

He saw him a few moments later, leaning up against a wall just in Lady's Saito's field of vision with an intense look on his face. It wasn't the best 'come fuck me' expression Naruto had ever witnessed but then he realised Sasuke was just waiting to catch the Lady's eye. When her head turned casually toward him Naruto was almost floored by his change in expression. The way a small corner of his mouth tipped up and the lazy almost nonchalant way he made eye contact where nothing on their own until the full expression formed. It was such a simple look yet so effective. The overall confident and inviting set to his features seemed to say, 'I _will_ make your night'. It seemed to be working too because the Lady's eyes hadn't moved on yet and although Naruto couldn't quite see her expression from this angle she seemed pretty intent. Then Sasuke tipped his head to the side just a fraction but the subtle movement conveying clear invitation and the Lady turned to the servant, spoke for a few moments before walking toward Sasuke and speaking to him herself. She stood very close to him, so close she might have been standing against him while the pair of them conversed for a few moments. Then the Lady began walking away and Sasuke pushed himself off the wall to follow at her heels toward the locked door. As they passed Naruto, the smug look on Sasuke's face almost made Naruto want to hit him.

"Fucking great, I'm never going to hear the end of this," Naruto muttered to himself.

He watched them both until she and Sasuke disappeared through the doors then scanned the room eager to get his part in the plan going before something could go wrong.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: So, welcome back to Part 6 *grins* Again it's only going to be a small part of two chapters, some half naked bonding and a little thieving escapade but hopefully interesting none-the-less. This part was planned out a long while ago and is mainly here for the funnies but I'm hoping it will also prove to be educational for both of the boys ;)_

_ It is at this point that I will also announce I have had to re-edit Part 2 because I missed a few things during the first edit. So you don't have to re-read it I will summarise the two small changes below…_

_1. There is a part where Sasuke said: _"But on that note I think that whatever happened to us has shut off our chakra for good." _In chapter two._

_It was meant to read:_ "But on that note I don't think that whatever happened to us has shut off our chakra for good."

_2. Sasuke mentions that they are both eighteen in chapter one. But no, they're still both seventeen._

_ No big deal but a simple miscount plus what can happen when you leave a simple 'don't' off a sentence. I face-palmed when I saw that *winces* If you started reading this entire story from the beginning after 15__th__ Feb 2013, don't worry, you've read the corrections already and please disregard this._

_ So next chapter we will see if the boys can pull off the heist or whether Sasuke is going to get molested by Lady Saito or not, see you soon!_

Unsigned Reviews –

_**Peacup Teanut – **__Yay, glad I could help your day *big smile* Hope you enjoy the new chapter ;)_

_**Guest – **__Yeah the chapters were a little on the small side but I didn't want to get into Part 6 stuff until now :)_

_Really glad you like the slow burn, I'm liking all the little teases sometimes subtle and sometimes not that I get to play with so I'm glad you are enjoying it. Hrm, yes I may just have to agree with you about Naruto though. And I'm not entirely sure Naruto is doing it for the right reasons either. _

_Thanks!_

_**Piggy7869 – **__I liked those chapters for the same reason. Nothing too heavy for a change and just – and I hate to say it – a little bit of filler lol. I plan every now and then to have a more sort of episodic part where there is clearly a problem to solve or an issue to overcome but perhaps then just have a part where it is purely just them relating to each other and figuring each other out. Part 6 is the episodic one, Part 7 will be almost purely relationship, Part 8 will be a little bit of both but still have something of a plot of its own and Part 9 we'll be back to them and so on and so forth. I thought it might be nice every now and again to break up the struggles with a bit of 'them time' if that makes sense. So I'm glad you like the not so crazy parts *big grin*_

_Exactly, Sasuke goes out of his way to remind Naruto that he doesn't care yet still keeps on at him about little inconsequential things just like this. He might say it's for the good of the trip, but as Naruto noticed way back in Part 3, Sasuke does a lot more than just make sure he survives. You have to wonder whether Sasuke's motives are as plain as he says they are ;)_

_Oh I would never tell you to shut up. Never :) _

_While it is true I don't plan on them fucking for some time yet it doesn't mean that the touching will remain all that innocent either. Of course I'm not saying that it will be a particularly long way either. I didn't want it to happen within the first few chapters because as you say, it might dry things up a little. But then again even when it does happen… doesn't mean all their issues with each other will suddenly disappear. I'm hoping for it not to be too soon but at the same time I sort of want to move past the elephant in the room and get into other things as well if that makes any kind of sense. But at the moment the elephant is small and hard to see but over the coming parts will probably start to become a bigger issue. Of course I plan to tease the pair of them a lot before the elephant becomes too apparent as well :) Sorry, that probably sounded like a slightly insane explanation involving way too much elephants but I'm trying not to talk about things that haven't come up yet which also accounts for why they might not jump into bed together so early. But we'll begin to touch on that soon ;)_

_Well, I hope the new chapter was worth the wait and anticipation. These two chapters should hopefully be a little fun and ah yes, the drunk scene will play out in Part 7. And well, yeah I am going to tease in that one… have I said too much *looks sheepish* But you're totally right, how could I not have a drunk scene and take total advantage of the fact that they both aren't thinking straight mwahaha._

_I tell ya, grab an account and you will be promptly advised when new chapters come out. I don't want to miss out on a single one of your reviews *grins* _

_Wow, sorry I went on a bit didn't I? lol._

_**Nemesis Jedi – **__Oh never fear Sasuke can out-bitch anyone! Amaya won't stand a chance. As for Amaya's big plans, well not so big really just a tad overly possessive, but we'll get more into that later ;)_

_Well, methinks there will be a lot of 'just makeout already' calls even before we get to that part (which I have pushed back to Part 9 in the interests of a fun little dare part, yeah I know I suck) But frustrated Sasuke will begin rather sooner than Part 9 though not in very many obvious ways. Well maybe one, but you'll know when we get there. But frustrated Sasuke will begin as angry Sasuke, then temper into confused Sasuke before finally becoming WTF Sasuke. But again, I can't explain why till we get there. But don't worry there shouldn't be too much sadness involved…yet._

_I like playing off the different perspectives and often choose the POV depending on who's views would be more beneficial, funnier or interesting at a particular time. As you say sometimes one gets things a lot easier than the other._

_Absolutely, Sasuke has a lot more understanding to go. Naruto will have changed a lot than what he remembers and out of the two has probably matured a lot more since their initial separation. Not suggesting that out of the two Naruto is the more mature, but it seems like he has changed the most of the two even though a lot of the time he can seem a lot more immature than Sasuke. The coming months should be an interesting eye-opener for Sasuke._

_Hrm, I don't think it will take Naruto too long to catch onto the fact that Sasuke is beginning to warm up to Naruto's company even if he doesn't realise it at the time. I'll play with that a little in Part 7._

_Good point, perhaps it is funny but also sad that Sasuke doesn't understand how simply being nice might help in some situations. Funny because Sasuke is such a social retard but sad that social interaction like this would never occur to him. Possibly because he doesn't often get a chance to see or experience it working. Poor funny Sasuke *sigh*_

_ Well… the lawmen I uh, well I guess I wasn't very subtle haha. But not for a little while yet._

_ Most of Sasuke's really hurtful comments will be something said carelessly rather than be screamed at Naruto in a fit of rage. Mainly because I sort of think they have more impact sometimes coming from left field like that but mostly to make Sasuke think a little more when Naruto suddenly gets pissed off and he doesn't know why. It will give me some nice moments of Sasuke reflection plus some equally nice moments of Naruto losing his cool although at the moment he's being pretty patient with him._

_Ah yes, Sasuke does almost expect them now ;) I think it's kinda cute haha._

_Sasuke won't notice the disappearances really at all. Well at least not enough to suspect anything right now. I don't want him clued in. _

_Hrm, well I'm not sure I have a definite moment of caring for you just at this point. I suppose the first big overt showing of caring I can think of at the moment with actual emotions might not start to rear its head until Part 11 or so. And because that is pretty far into the future I'm not even positive about that. He might show a little more closeness though as early as the end of Part 7. The first time he actually says anything like it won't be till after that still, perhaps Part 15 or so. Oh yeah, he's a tough nut to crack lol. I do have a few random scenes of borderline jealousy as early as well, the last chapter you just read. But fun possessive/jealous Sasuke will show itself again around Parts 13 and 15. And yes it will be because someone shows more than a passing interest in our blond bronzed Adonis *grins* I also have a random scene of jealousy that I haven't found a home for yet. Oh, but doesn't mean Sasuke will be the only one to have green eyes here. I fully intend to introduce another character later on that might take a bit of a liking to Sasuke. Though this plan is a relatively new idea and I haven't really gotten into the plotting stage all that much. But let's just say that Sasuke will be tempted in a lot more ways than just the obvious ;)_

_Oh I kinda wish I did make him shriek, damnit. That would have been funny :D_

_Well the way the last few chapters of the manga are going, I think it might be taking Sasuke in a different direction than a big fight with Naruto which would contradict my story completely. So at the moment, no plans to use the newer stuff. I'll see how it pans out and see if I can use it without it punching a big hole in my story. Of course Sasuke might still fight him, I haven't had much luck with manga predictions so far, but I am getting the strong impression right now that he might yet be talked around. _

_Haha, Wasn't Hashirama funny! I loves him too cause a sense of humour always wins for me in the end. Minato is still cooler though *grins*_


	14. Hard Work Ch2

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 6**

**Hard Work**

**Chapter 2/2**

Naruto realised a moment later that they really should have thought this part of the plan over further before Sasuke went ahead and offered himself to the woman because Naruto couldn't figure out a single way to upset the party that wouldn't result in him being kicked out.

Unfortunately his thinking was slow going and he was constantly distracted as he looked around for some idea on how to proceed. The party seemed in full gear by this point and he was one of the few 'entertainers' left standing by himself with nothing, or rather no one, to do.

So he felt pretty conspicuous to begin with and uncomfortable looking around as well considering what was happening around him. Couples, trios and more were spread out through the open rooms. Some hadn't gotten past the touching stage while others had gone straight for less comparatively innocent pursuits.

And he really couldn't help but look. There was a lot of nakedness. Actually he'd never really had much of a chance to see naked women at all so it was a double eye opener for him. And seeing so much flushed and naked writing and moaning people around him made him a little flushed as well.

He made himself take a few deep breaths and refocus his mind while he searched around for a means to get through the door. But other things he'd never seen, apart from the women, decided to present themselves to his vision at that moment instead.

Well Suki had mentioned the thing about the men and really there were a lot more men partaking in tonight's festivities than women. And since the entertainers themselves were more equal in number it should not have been so surprising to see.

But it was still a bit of a shock.

Morio's place had been very tame, Naruto suddenly realised with a red face. I mean he kind of knew, in the back of his mind that guys could have sex like this together. Even Sasuke had made a joke in front of Morio's place about being penetrated but Naruto hadn't really allowed the thought to settle in his mind for proper consideration. But here it was right it front of him and Naruto wasn't sure whether he wanted to wince or just simply be amazed. To think that it could even fit…

Well obviously it did because not all that moaning could be faked, the erection on the one on the bottom certainly couldn't be…

But then he didn't get much of chance to think either because he was interrupted by Suki showing up a moment later with a robed guest.

"Ah Naruto, there you are! See Tamotsu-san, I _told _you he was a cutie."

Naruto tried to smile and look as accommodating as he could without showing what he was really feeling but his smile slipped just as little as Suki continued.

"Tamotsu-san was worried that there wouldn't be any cute guys for him, but here you are." Suki winked at him like she was doing Naruto some great favour before drifting off again into the crowd once more. "I'll leave you both to have some fun," she called over her shoulder.

_Fucking brilliant_, Naruto thought bitterly as he watched Tamotsu look him over eagerly. _How am I gonna get out of this one?_

"So young," Tamotsu purred stepping closer. Naruto took an immediate step back without meaning to. "Just how old are you, boy?"

"Seventeen," Naruto replied taking another step backward.

"Seventeen, well isn't this my lucky day then? Tell me Naruto, how good are you at pleasuring a man?"

Naruto didn't know if he was about to pass out from embarrassment or anxiousness at this point but he made himself calm down, willed his heart to beat normally focussed on how Sasuke had looked at Lady Saito. He had been cool, collected and so confident and that gave Naruto the strength to try and follow his lead. First of all he stopped his unconscious retreat away from the man and stood his ground. He forced a small smile on his face and tried like hell not to think about what drastic measures he might have to do in order to keep his virginity intact right now.

"Well I am one, so I guess that counts as practise," Naruto told him at a loss for anything else to say.

The man laughed like Naruto had just told the best joke and put a hand to his shoulder. The hand on his bare shoulder felt hot and heavy and distinctly uncomfortable.

"Such a witty boy," the man said pleased. "I would like to see if that quick tongue of yours is just as talented in other ways."

Naruto felt pressure exerted against his shoulder, urging him down onto his knees while his new customer went ahead and undid his robe, exposing himself and his rather obvious excitement all in one go. It was at this point that Naruto figured it was fight back or give in to heart seizure but instead for some reason his brain offered up an unexpected alternative.

"Well boy, are you going to stare or are you going to suck it?" the man asked a little impatiently.

"Sorry Tomatsu-san, I was surprised that's all. You are not at all like that man over there suggested you were. Definitely not small at all."

"Wait, who said that?"

"That man," Naruto replied gesturing vaguely into the crowd.

"Kuro?"

"That's the one. He said you were so small that the guys here didn't even feel it when you…"

Happily Naruto never got to finish. Evidently Tomatsu had a very bad temper and a lot to drink because he stormed off after the guest Naruto had accused, robe flying out behind him like a vengeful though at least still partially aroused ghost. Naruto really hoped that whoever that Kuro guy was that he deserved whatever was about to happen to him.

Naruto got to his feet just as the first punch was thrown and made his way quickly toward the locked door and the guard standing beside it.

"What's happening over there, what's all the racket about?" the guard questioned him sharply.

"Two of the guests are beating each other up. You'd better check it out."

If it hadn't been two probably wealthy and influential guests brawling, Naruto doubted the guard would have sprinted away so quickly. But luck remained on his side as the door was left unguarded and again when he pulled open the door without any resistance. A small candied nut had been the only thing holding the door just barely open and Naruto figured Sasuke must have dropped it there on his way through before.

The hallway beyond seemed thankfully deserted and Naruto spend a few moments opening and closing doors in the fond hopes of either finding their prize or Sasuke.

Actually if he had to be honest he really wanted to find Sasuke most of all right now. For one thing, this was Sasuke's idea and Naruto was still pretty uncertain about the stealing thing. But strangely he also felt oddly at a loss without his presence, which reminded him strongly of when Sasuke had first left Konoha. It was probably this familiarity that made him a little panicked as he searched through the rooms. Of course the fact that Naruto was also supposed to watch out for him during their time here was also a major worry. Who knew how long Sasuke would last playing the willing entertainment once he and Lady Saito were actually alone together. Sasuke was unpredictable at the best of times when it came to the touching thing and Naruto didn't like the idea that Sasuke might do something drastic if it took him too long to come through on his side of the plan.

But what he did find first was a bare room with nothing but clothes racks filled with nice looking suits and dresses in varying sizes. He figured it must be where the guest's belongings were kept while they went through to be entertained. Basically this was the perfect place to turn over in the hopes of finding cash and Naruto spent a few indecisive moments lingering the doorway wondering whether it might be beneficial to get the robbery underway now or find Sasuke first. It was a difficult decision because Naruto badly wanted to find Sasuke. But then his brain turned up a better idea.

Naruto slipped inside and spent a few moments going through the pockets collecting wads of money and stuffing it all into a large brown leather satchel he found lying nearby which he'd emptied for his own use. He then snagged two suits off the racks and shoved as much as he could into the satchel as well before slipping back into the hall and closing the door softly behind him. Now all he had to do was find Sasuke and get them both out of here without arousing any suspicion.

Or any more guests come to that.

It took him five more minutes and eight more doors before he got to a door that opened up into a massive bedroom. The theme of black and red that covered everything in the room was a little much for Naruto's tastes but at least it allowed him to spot Sasuke's pale form easily up against the wall on the opposite side. He seemed to be alone so Naruto entered, dumping the satchel on the floor and spending the next few moments trying like hell not to laugh his ass off.

Sasuke seemed torn between glaring at him and being relieved to see him. It was probably due to the fact that down the wall from the ceiling were bolted a couple of chains attached to some shackles which were currently secured around Sasuke's wrists.

"The key is on the dresser," Sasuke told him shortly. "Stop grinning and let me loose."

"And here you were so confident you were such a ladies man," Naruto taunted him, taking his time to saunter over to the dresser and fetch the key.

"She didn't do this because she was displeased. Apparently she didn't want me touched by anyone else before she had more time to enjoy the moment. But presently she has guests to attend to."

"So she chained you up. Uh Sasuke, I think that's more a kink thing than a protective thing."

"Shut up."

Naruto walked up to Sasuke, still trying not to laugh and made a show of reaching up to unlock a cuff before apparently changing his mind.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked sharply.

"I was just thinking, maybe I ought to leave you here," he teased. "I mean if I let you go, Lady Saito is gonna know something is wrong, right?"

Unfortunately for Naruto, Lady Saito hadn't been forward thinking enough to restrain Sasuke's legs, which Sasuke used now to hook around Naruto's waist and drag him closer so their bodies were pressed firmly up against each other, their noses almost touching. Sasuke fixed angry dark eyes on him.

"Unlock. Me. Now!" he hissed.

Naruto put his palms on Sasuke's legs and dug his fingers in, "Make me."

"Naruto-"

"Fine, fine, you know I was only teasing right? I'm not gonna leave you in here to get molested by some stranger. Let go."

"You won't leave me here?"

"Abandonment issues, teme? That's rich coming from you."

"You never let anything go," Sasuke told him in irritation.

"No, but I wish you would. Let go. Of me I mean. C'mon you wanna get out of here or not?"

Sasuke complied after a few seconds lowering his legs and allowing Naruto to reach up and unlock one cuff.

He was about to pull it open when he heard the door behind him open and he froze in what he was doing.

_Shit, shit, shit!_

Unfreezing he inconspicuously pressed the key into Sasuke's palm and turned to face the surprised expression of Lady Saito as she came into the room, the door sweeping closed behind her.

"What are _you_ doing here?" She questioned sharply when she saw him, slowly but not at all warily walking toward the pair. Thankfully she must have missed what Naruto had been doing.

"Well, I um, I mean…"

"I know I told those stupid servants I wanted a blond as well tonight but I requested a woman, I already have a man."

Naruto didn't know what to say and so stayed silent till he was nudged subtly into action by Sasuke's knee.

"Must have been a mix up," Naruto offered weakly.

"Idiots," the Lady said scowling. "Come with me, I will take you back and fetch a woman myself."

"Lady Saito," Sasuke spoke up quickly. "Why not keep him as well? He's cute isn't he?"

Hearing Sasuke describe him like that in such a suggestive tone actually made Naruto's belly flutter a little. What was Sasuke trying to suggest here?

The Lady did take a few moments to look Naruto over and she didn't seem to mind what she saw but still looked a little sceptical. Obviously she had her heart set for tonight and wouldn't be easily dissuaded.

"I doubt the Lady would be displeased. I can think of many things I could do to him that would amuse you greatly," Sasuke persisted, his warm breath gusting up against the back of Naruto's neck.

Frankly the dark seductive tone behind him was unsettling. The promise in Sasuke's voice made Naruto shiver a little.

"You like the look of him that much?" The Lady asked Sasuke with new interest.

Sasuke's face was so close to the side of his own face now that he could feel the hot breath against his ear. "Yes Lady, the innocent looking ones always moan the loudest."

It took all of Naruto's willpower not to jump when he felt something wet and warm snake up the side of neck, slowly and deliberately until sharp teeth latched onto his earlobe and bit down a little painfully.

Sasuke was acting again but it didn't stop goose bumps shooting up the side of his neck all the same. Sasuke _really_ should have become an actor, he would have been famous.

But the show had the intended effect to judge by the lady's face so Naruto merely bit his lip and took the treatment without a word. Until of course Sasuke bit down even harder and Naruto realised he was _supposed_ to be moaning according to Sasuke's brazen speech. And while he couldn't really work up a moan, the pain did make his breath hitch quite audibly causing the Lady to smile slowly.

Interest most definitely piqued now, the Lady came closer, reaching out to run her fingers over Naruto's chest and over his shoulder before curling behind his neck and dragging his head forward and then he was being kissed.

It was perhaps his first kiss with a woman who wasn't trying to kill him and although he hadn't asked or wanted it to happen he still felt pretty underwhelmed by the experience. He had hoped that his first kiss with a woman who actually found him attractive would feel better, make him happier but he just kept hoping that she might stop soon. Of course his moment might have been ruined by the fact that he had an audience and he was pretty sure that audience was probably glaring daggers into the back of his head right now.

The Lady ummed in a pleased tone when she drew away. "Maybe there is something to this suggestion after all. He _is_ cute, isn't he?"

She pushed against his chest making him take a quick half-step backward into Sasuke. Sasuke felt warm against the bare skin of his back but weirdly it was reassuring to feel him there. Even half chained to a wall Sasuke was his ally, his backup, and it was comforting to feel him so close while the lady leaned in and attacked his lips again.

He felt her small hands slide up his sides as she pushed her body up against his and still all he felt like doing was getting the hell out of here. This wasn't what he'd imagined his first time to be like at all. Although her body was pressed up against his and the slide of clothed breasts against his chest felt somewhat arousing he felt nothing but trapped and was deeply considering making her stop what she was doing any way possible. But grabbing her would be suspicious.

So instead he found his hands reaching around to clutch at the tops of Sasuke's legs. The intention was that if his hands were not free to push the woman away without thinking about the repercussions of his actions so easily he could deal with it longer, but he found his fingers flexing against the tense muscles of Sasuke's legs anyway, eager to do just that. And no matter how reassuring it was to have the familiar feel of Sasuke's skin under his fingers he knew it was only a matter of time before his body would just react and he'd do something stupid like push her away anyway.

When she released his lips to attack the side of his neck instead he craned his head around to indeed find Sasuke glowering at the pair until he focussed on Naruto's eyes. Naruto didn't know what Sasuke saw in that moment but his expression changed quickly to something slightly indignant. He seemed about ready to tug his unlocked hand free of the shackle when the door burst open for a second time and a guard rushed in. Thankfully it wasn't the door guard and so didn't recognise Naruto at all.

"Sorry for the intrusion!"

"Not yet you aren't," the woman replied darkly.

Tomatsu-sama and Kuro-sama started a fight m'lady. We are trying to break it up but…"

With a suddenly very worried expression the Lady pushed herself off Naruto and left with the guard without a backwards glance. Naruto let his head fall back against Sasuke's shoulder with relieved sigh.

"I want to marry that guard," Naruto said with feeling.

"Did you start that fight?" Sasuke asked dragging his hand free and unlocking the second cuff himself.

"Sort of," Naruto replied stepping away from Sasuke on jittery legs and turning to face him.

"Good distraction," Sasuke said rubbing his newly freed wrists and coming over to stand directly in front of Naruto. "You look peaked."

Was that concern?

"I was about to stop her," Naruto confessed. "Sorry Sasuke, but I couldn't do that, not with her, not for all the money in the world. She creeps me out."

"Blowing our cover wouldn't have been the end of the world," Sasuke told him. "We aren't invalids without our chakra, we could have fought our way out if it came to it."

First concerned Sasuke and now supportive Sasuke. Even Sasuke was starting to freak him out.

To distract himself he went to retrieve his abandoned satchel taking out one of the suits and throwing it to Sasuke.

"What's this?"

"Our way out," Naruto replied simply.

* * *

In the end, their escape plan was as easy as donning the suits and finding the stairs, walking down into the regular party and out the front doors. The ease of it pleased both of them after such a hectic night but even with their newfound wealth they both decided that staying in town right now wasn't the swiftest idea and instead left town as quickly as possible. It would be another night spent on the ground but it was worth it in case the Lady suspected them of thieving off her guests. After all, the pair had disappeared out of her room but who knew how long the fight had detained her anyway. Either way it was best not to leave things to chance and the two travelled on until weariness outweighed escape and they found a clearing to camp down in near to the ever-present river to have a drink and scrub the rigors of the night off their skin.

They were sitting in the river, the water coming up to their necks when Sasuke reached over and rubbed water over a spot on Naruto's neck vigorously for a few moments.

"What is it?" Naruto asked not sure he wanted to know.

"Lipstick."

"Uuuuhhhgggg," Naruto replied pulling his head down underwater and rubbing at the spot himself a few times just to make sure it was all gone. When he resurfaced Sasuke was looking at him almost pensively.

"Perhaps the plan could have used some work," Sasuke commented.

"It's all good. You were right, the money I grabbed will keep us in clothes, food and inns for a long while yet."

"So you admit it was worth it?"

Naruto thought that over for a moment. "Yeah. I mean it's not like anything really happened, just a couple of close calls. Boy she sure was aggressive though, wasn't she?"

"You're talking to the guy she had chained to a wall," Sasuke reminded him.

Naruto chuckled at that for a few moments before his expression cleared once more.

"It wasn't like I would have imagined. I mean I like girls, I do. I like the way they look, the way they feel but she was kinda creepy. It just wasn't very…"

"Comfortable," Sasuke supplied for him with a faint half-smile.

Naruto grinned right back at him, "Funny, Sasuke. It was all right for you, you got chained up so no one could touch you. I had to dodge a horny guy that wanted me to suck his dick."

"I'm assuming that since you're joking about it, you managed to get out of it."

"Sure did. Actually I made him start the fight."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I don't want to know how."

"Why not?" Naruto asked indignantly. "It was a pretty smart move, you'd be proud of me."

"I doubt it."

"All I did was suck him off and I was so good he said he'd do anything for me," Naruto was going red even before he'd finished joking about it but it was worth it for Sasuke's reaction.

First his eyes went a little wide but as he regarded Naruto for a few moments longer he seemed less than impressed. "Tch, liar."

"Had you going for a moment didn't I?"

"No."

"Liar," Naruto parroted.

* * *

The night was warm so they didn't bother lighting a fire or really doing anything else but sit by the river for some time afterwards. Sasuke hadn't bothered dressing again and sat back with his hands bracing him up and long legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankle.

Naruto sat next to him, his legs crossed beneath him and watched the moonlight flicker on the surface of the water.

"I need to go out hunting but I'm too tired to move. But I'm also too wired to sleep."

"Just get some sleep, we'll find something to eat in the morning," Sasuke suggested.

"Do you think it's okay to sleep through till morning?"

"I covered our tracks pretty well. And besides, the fact that a lot of really drunk men lost their money isn't going to surprise the owners of that money much since they spent their night running back to their wallets to tip or entice the entertainment. I would be surprised even if they did suspect a theft that they would ever report it. There were a lot of rich people there tonight and I doubt they or Lady Saito would feel comfortable revealing just which of her guests were robbed. Rich people tend to like to hide the fact that they attend parties like that. So I would be very surprised if anyone came after us. It was just pocket change to them anyhow, you're a moron to feel bad about it."

"I still do," Naruto admitted.

"I don't."

"What a shocker."

"Just go get some sleep."

"I can't, I keep seeing… It was just uh, a lot to digest. What happened at the party I mean."

Sasuke looked over at him with the strangest expression like he was actually fighting the temptation to laugh. Naruto had only ever seen him look that way perhaps once before and it was almost startling. Sasuke looking so amused and close to actual laughter made him almost look like a different person.

"Sure, if you do it right."

Naruto grinned at the sick joke. Who would've ever thought Sasuke was capable of it?

"I was lying about the blowjob, remember?"

"Hmm, I'm beginning to wonder."

Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke and dragged himself to his feet.

"Asshole. Fine, I'm going to try to get some sleep. You should too. I feel guilty about taking the money but I think the sooner we get to the next town and I have some food again the sooner I'll feel a bit better about it."

**TBC in Part 7**

* * *

_Notes: Well well well isn't Sasuke just the best actor ever haha. _

_ So people that have read a few of my other stories by now know that I have a few re-occurring set-ups for scenes I add as a bit of an inside joke. In this one I will be attempting to re-live just about all of my set-ups and Part 6 had the Sasuke tied up scene though admittedly this is the first time I've used it in a fun way rather than a Sasuke being tortured way so yay for healthy progress. Another good one will be the shower scene which won't occur for some time to come, the bathing together scene has sort of already been done since they bathe together just about every night out in the wilderness so you might say that one will be well overused ;) Jealous Sasuke will be utilised in the future too. There are a few more scenes I think but I won't go on about it right now. Anyway I thought you'd all get a giggle seeing Sasuke tied up again lol._

_ Anyway Part 7 should be out sometime in March, yep, no more for Feb guys, I have other things that need writing. But if I do manage to get one other little ficcy out before then I will get back to this earlier. Part 7 will be another sort of fill in the blanks relationship building Part that I think at this point should easily be around three chapters long. There's drinking involved and you know I'm going to have to use that to somewhat good tease effect so stayed tuned ;)_

_ As always, previews will be up on the Dashdom really soon._

_ Dash. _

Unsigned Reviews –

_**Maddz54 – **__Thanks! Yep I want them to come closer as friends over a good amount of time by travelling together, overcoming things together and plainly just starting to enjoy each other's company. Plus making them aware of each other more physically with jealousy and teasing will also be lots of fun ;)_

_**Nemesis Jedi – **__Yes but Naruto's patience will have bounds I promise and Sasuke will at least at one point manage to REALLY piss him off. But we won't get to that for a little while yet._

_Haha, Sasuke pouting would be cute lol_

_Well never say never about Naruto's 'side project', I suppose he will find out eventually but I can't really elaborate at this early stage. Don't want to spoil :) But let's just say he will find out when Naruto can no longer hide it anymore. _

_Haha, declaration sounds a little strong. Maybe when Sasuke will sort of kind of admit to Naruto that he somewhat cares about him, might be more like it. What can I say, this IS Sasuke and even that little concession will be like pulling teeth lol. You're absolutely right, Sasuke really does like his denial._

_Ah everyone seems to like jealous Sasuke. Can't say I blame them it is fun and getting pissy and violent seems like a very Sasuke way of expressing himself. _

_Well Sasuke's alterno-interest is a bit complicated. It won't be all that tempting to him at first and will be something more like a vague admittance of attraction. What will really get Sasuke will be what he might get by being with this person and it will all get a little personal that way. Well that's what I have so far anyway. This idea is relatively new and I haven't ironed out the details yet and I will probably change it up a little before I get that far since it won't come about till Part 20-something. But Sasuke's interest in this new person will not be all that romantic I'm pretty sure. I'm right there with you about Sasuke not really responding to people much which is why it all sounds pretty weird lol. Naruto however is going to be somewhat restrained through most of the ordeal surprisingly but you'll get why a little later on. But of course Naruto being restrained isn't really all that restrained and I'm not entirely sure and only have some small ideas on how Sasuke is going to respond to it. Sorry, like I said it's a very new idea and is a little vague at the moment._

_Actually I have an idea in the works where I might be able to use such a shriek. Totally that would be a sad day lol._

_Ah well, the tried and true whoring method lol. I have no current plans to have them go through anything like this again I promise. But once the idea of loincloths got into my head I couldn't shake it. Well I promise I have no __**current **__plans for any more pretend whoring (that might change *laughs*) but I make no promises about the loincloths haha._

Yeah I know, I was concerned I'd made Naruto a little too self-conscious when he really isn't that way normally but I'll come back to it in Part 7 when Sasuke will bring it up. I did like having Sasuke handle it as though Naruto was so obviously wrong about it.

_I think the idea with the loincloth was that sometimes some clothes are more revealing than being naked. Being naked around Naruto, he's become use to by now but Naruto wearing something sheer like that which is so obviously drawing the eye to one particular area would have been a bit of a double-take moment for Sasuke. _

_Ahaha, well perhaps Sasuke has more faith in Naruto than he realises to leave him alone in such a place. He obviously trusted that Naruto would come through for him or either be so embarrassed that he wouldn't be tempted to have any fun of his own lol. _

_Hrm, well, by now you will have seen just how much help Suki was. Methinks it won't earn her a cheek kiss though haha._


	15. Cashed Up Ch1

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 7**

**Cashed Up**

**Chapter 1/3**

It took them another day and a half to get to the next town and by then the pair of them were very tired and even more hungry. They had hunted the morning after the party but nothing in the way of meat presented itself and they were too wary and not entirely hungry enough to eat random bits of foliage that they could not recognise apart from the fruit Sasuke had taken a liking to.

They were just getting closer to the town and arguing over what their first priority should be once they arrived.

"Food," Naruto said promptly. "Oooo I wonder if they make ramen here."

"Clothes," Sasuke argued once more. "These suits are uncomfortable and not practical. Besides we look stupid walking around in formal travel dirty clothes."

"Ah, c'mon Sasuke, I'm dying here! Please can we get some food first?"

"No. It's late afternoon. I don't want to run the risk of the clothes shops shutting before we have a chance to buy anything. The food stalls won't shut as early."

Sasuke had a good point but Naruto's stomach disagreed really loudly. Naruto figured he could stay in his inappropriate smelly suit for another week if it meant he could finally get a decent meal. But then…

"Okay, I'll make you a deal. We go get clothes first but then when we go look for dinner we have to have ramen if they sell it."

"No deal. Besides, why do we have to eat the same thing anyway?"

That thought hadn't honestly crossed Naruto's mind. Over the past month they hadn't spent much time apart. He supposed he'd just gotten used to it.

"Well I just assumed we'd eat together."

"We aren't married dobe, you can eat what you want where you want, we don't have to be together all the time. Actually if you want to go get some food first that's fine by me, I'm going to find clothes."

There was no rule stating they had to stick together. They just had until now for convenience and safety's sake. But now that they were so far from where they had started, he doubted they were in much danger anymore.

So why the hell did he feel so worried all of a sudden?

Because of the feeling, when they did get to town and Sasuke started searching out a clothes shop, Naruto went along with him. Thankfully Sasuke didn't say anything about it, but he did look around at his unexpected shadow and raised an eyebrow at him.

"I can wait," Naruto said simply while steadfastly not looking directly at Sasuke.

* * *

At this point they didn't have much in the way of belongings. They had the clothes on their backs, their new satchel and little else. Before going to the Saito residence in the last town, Naruto had made sure to hide what few possessions he still had in his pockets, not being sure what he had been walking into at the time, and had recovered his head protector and other assorted items from where he had buried them near the river for safe keeping on the way out of town. For some unknown reason he hadn't wanted to lose his protector. It identified him as a Konoha ninja and was an important part of his life. All he knew was that he felt better knowing it was safe in the bag along with their ill-gotten money. He still felt bad about the money though but at least it would help them along on their journey. Clothes and food by this point being an absolute necessity.

They were still a fair way out of ninja lands so the shops didn't have anything obviously appropriate, but the styles weren't too bad and the pair didn't have any problems finding themselves new outfits before the stores closed for the night.

Sasuke ended up in a shirt much like the one Naruto had ripped in half only a deep blue colour this time and longer than the previous one, reaching down mid thigh and covering the top part of his new dark grey pants. It still tied together at the side leaving a long vee of pale skin at the neck and much of his arms bare as well but it seemed appropriate enough for the warm weather. And his dark grey pants at least weren't the same as before. Naruto meanwhile had ended up buying a pair of olive green pants and an orange short-sleeved shirt done up with a zip. Sasuke had just rolled his eyes.

"Trust you to find that horrible colour."

"I look hot, you can admit it,"

"You want me to lie to you?"

"C'mon teme, you've got new clothes, let's get something to eat."

Naruto had also bought a black t-shirt just to have something else to wear when needed and Sasuke had gotten a duplicate shirt to the one he already had in deep purple and longer sleeves. All in all, they both felt their first shopping trip had been a success.

* * *

Naruto saw the brilliance in the clothes Sasuke had bought that night when the pair were getting ready for bed and Sasuke was wearing his new shirt like pyjamas without the bottoms. It was weird, the shirt only just covered what it needed to and although they'd spent plenty of time around each other naked lately it seemed somehow more revealing than anything else.

_Stupid Sasuke, makes any bit of clothing look like a courtesans wardrobe._

"You look stupid," Naruto told him.

"I'm going to sleep, I'm not dressing to look good."

Well he certainly failed there. Actually his shirt reminded Naruto a lot of the robes worn by the guests at the party. Which just served to give him even more uncomfortable visuals.

"It must hurt," Naruto commented.

Sasuke laid down with his arms behind his head and looked up at the ceiling with a bland expression.

"As usual you've started a story in the middle without any indication of where it was supposed to begin."

"At the party," Naruto began before realising maybe this wasn't the best conversation to be having with anyone, ever, least of all Sasuke who'd probably not care what he thought or laugh at him or tease him or something equally as jerkish.

It was a pity really. His whole life he'd never had a friend his own age he could talk to without fear of being made fun of or made to feel stupid. Sasuke was the closest thing he'd ever had to a best friend and the bastard had left just when they'd been starting to get close.

"What, being chained to the wall?"

"Uh yeah," Naruto lied lying down on his blankets and turning away from Sasuke to face the opposite wall so Sasuke couldn't see his expression. It didn't matter though, apparently his tone hadn't been convincing enough.

It took Sasuke a few silent moments of trying to figure it out but eventually he caught on to what Naruto had really meant to say.

"Sex doesn't hurt moron. Otherwise people wouldn't enjoy it so much. Well unless it's rough, or forced. But that wasn't happening at the party."

Well at least Sasuke wasn't making fun of him he supposed and he'd already guessed Naruto's virgin status so what the hell?

He turned back over to see Sasuke watching him still with that unreadable expression.

"That's not really what I meant. I know it's supposed to feel good, I just meant, I mean, some of the things they were doing…"

"You mean the guys."

"Wasn't just the guys getting the treatment from what _I_ saw, but yeah. I guess you saw as much as I did."

"Hard not to since everyone was all over the place doing whatever they wanted to. Nobody was being hurt, just the opposite considering the sounds I heard."

"Have you ever done anything weird with a girl. I mean you have been with one right?"

"I haven't," Sasuke cut him off.

"Wait," Naruto said with wide eyes, "Does that mean you, you know?"

Sasuke gave him his usual jerky little half smile. "I never said I've had sex before. You just assumed."

"That's not fair! You gave me so much crap about being a virgin when you still are too! What the fuck?"

"I only said your virginity was obvious."

Which was true, but it still wasn't fair as far as Naruto was concerned.

"How the hell are you still a virgin anyway? You have girls falling all over themselves for you."

"Doesn't mean I want to have sex with them."

"So you're picky," Naruto concluded willing his cheeks not to redden at Sasuke's tone.

"I suppose. Maybe 'uninterested' is a better word."

"How can you be uninterested?"

"You tell me. You could have had anyone at that party but you acted like it all turned your stomach."

"That was different. They were going to _pay_ me to have sex with them."

"So? Your first time doesn't have to be some special magical moment. Other people pay for sex their first time, I don't see how it's such an issue."

"Yeah but they're not usually the ones getting paid. C'mon Sasuke even you with your don't-care attitude wouldn't have actually had sex with someone there."

"That's true," Sasuke admitted. "But it's a choice thing. I like to have choices about what I do."

"Is it like that thing when you said you'd rather me grope you than some stranger?"

Sasuke took a moment to answer but eventually he said, "Yes."

"I get it. You'd rather someone of your choosing rather someone that chose you, even if that choice was someone you didn't really want either."

"Basically."

"Well I get what you're trying to say, but I don't totally understand that. I'd be flattered if someone chose me out of anyone else they could have."

"That's because you aren't used to the attention," Sasuke told him bluntly.

"That's cold, teme. But I guess you're right. Some girl holding a special crush on _you_ isn't exactly rare to find. Some us don't have that luxury."

"That's because you don't look. You shout to everyone that will listen about how great you are, how you're going to be Hokage and all that but you really have very little self-confidence when it comes to relationships with people or how you look. It's really annoying to hear you complain about it."

"When did this become about me?"

"It's your turn," Sasuke told him simply. "I'm sure plenty of girls have a crush on the hero of the village but you just don't notice because you aren't used to the attention and can't see it for what it is."

"How the hell would you know?" Naruto asked just a little irritated. "You don't know what my life has been like in the last five years."

"No, but I know you and you haven't changed all that much."

"Whatever Sasuke, I think I would have noticed if a girl wanted to be with me." But then Naruto remembered something. "You know Hinata told me she loved me, but I don't really know if she meant she was all in love with me or anything romantic like that."

"Didn't you ask?"

"Uh, no," Naruto replied sheepishly. "But it was real hectic at the time. Pain was attacking and then the Cloud ninja turned up saying they were going to hunt you down and kill you and I got a bit distracted."

"A girl confessed her love to you and you instead got distracted by what someone was going to do to me?" Sasuke asked half surprised and half irritated.

"Sounds stupid when I say it out loud," Naruto admitted. "Sakura told me she loved me too but I knew she was lying. She was still in love with you but she was trying to stop me going after you."

"So Sakura told you she was in love with you and you called her a liar."

"Pretty much."

"You're more stupid than I thought and that's saying a lot. So here's a big question for you, who are _you_ in love with? Because listening to that litany it sounds like the person you are really in love with is me."

"Ha ha, very funny asshole. It's not like I spent every waking moment trying to find you. It's just a coincidence, that's all."

"Just a thought, you can see why I'd get the wrong impression."

"If you're talking about in the box when I kissed you it was just because I wanted to find out why you were being all weird. I asked, but you wouldn't tell me."

"So what did your little experiment tell you?"

"That you have a really complicated and moody sense of personal space."

"Well at least it wasn't for nothing then."

"I really wish you'd stop teasing me teme. You were never like this before, you were always doom and gloom and must avenge clan. I suppose it explains your sense of humour though. It's crap 'cause of lack of use."

Sasuke didn't say anything at first but he didn't seem angry either.

"Isn't this what you wanted?"

"What do you mean?"

"You used to go on about this bond we share, how close we were and then you get freaked out because I actually talk to you like a friend might?"

Was Sasuke thinking about when he'd gotten pissed at him about the 'not being friends' comment just after they'd crossed the border? If so Naruto was shocked Sasuke would care about that or even try makes amends for it. He hadn't seemed to care at the time after all.

"You weren't really ever that kind of friend," Naruto replied honestly, still surprised Sasuke would bring this up.

"So you wanted a friend who didn't act like a friend?"

"I didn't mean that. You weren't that kind of friend, but I sort of hoped that one day you would be," Naruto told him softly.

"Close ties with people only hurt you in the end," Sasuke told him evenly. "You should understand that by now."

"So you keep saying. So what, are you throwing me a fake pity friendship now or something, is that what you are doing?"

"I'm not trying to do anything, why would I? It's kind of a relief not to be trying to hard to do anything actually."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked curiously, crawling a little closer so he could see Sasuke's expression.

"All of the old problems, everything I felt I had to deal with is all now very far away. Literally. There's nothing I can do but focus on each new problem as it comes up. It made me angrier at first, but realising there is nothing you can do about it for now is actually somewhat liberating."

Sasuke met his eyes for a moment and then looked sharply away as though angry and embarrassed he'd admitted such a thing out loud. And Naruto was completely surprised yet again that he had confessed to such a feeling at all but Naruto could understand his point. Naruto was eager to get home because he had things and people he loved waiting for him there. All Sasuke had was painful reminders, loneliness and what must have felt like an overwhelming sense of pressure. No wonder he seemed a little different from his usual self sometimes.

"I didn't mean to sound like I was complaining," Naruto told him with a small smile. "I like the new you. Well, sometimes. When you aren't teasing me or making fun of me."

"I did that before," Sasuke pointed out.

"Yeah, but now you do it with less… Sasukeness."

"I'm not sure if that's offensive or not."

"Best not to think about it."

Sasuke smirked at him. "Now _you're_ teasing _me_."

"You deserve it, jerk."

"Moron."

"Bastard."

"Virgin."

"Hey! So are you!"

"Yeah but I don't find the information insulting."

Which was probably true. Sasuke cared so little about what other people thought and people in general seemed like such a hassle for him to deal with so it wasn't a shock to understand now why being a virgin wouldn't faze Sasuke in the least. It also went a long way to explaining why he still was one too. But still, he _had_ to have _some_ interest. What teenage guy didn't?

"So just what girl in the whole wide world is good enough for Uchiha Sasuke anyway? I know you said you want it to be someone you pick and not just random girl that makes moon eyes at you. But you have to have some idea."

"I don't care, I haven't thought about it."

"Never been tempted?"

Sasuke paused. "Never."

"Liar!" Naruto crowed triumphantly. The little pause, the hesitant tone was so unlike Sasuke that Naruto knew he had to be lying.

"Fine I was tempted."

"Hah, I knew it. Pretty?"

"Not really a word I would use."

"Oh. Let me guess, some big busted dark haired no nonsense type."

"No."

"C'mon, at least give me something!"

"Their bust was inconsequential."

"Well that was informative," Naruto remarked sarcastically. "One moment you're all chatty, the next you're same old Sasuke."

"Whatever," Sasuke replied turning over, away from Naruto.

Naruto closed the distance between them and then lying on his stomach across the space between their beds, his legs still on his own futon, braced up by his elbows, he rested his chin in the crook of Sasuke's neck and sighed. Sasuke didn't even flinch this time.

"Ne, Sasuke?"

"What?"

"No matter what, you are still my friend no matter what you say. New you, old you, in between you, I don't care."

"How touching," Sasuke replied insincerely. "Get off me."

Naruto didn't move. "I want to do something tomorrow. With the money we have, we should see if we can get you a new sword."

"Why?" Sasuke asked a little surprised.

"Because we have no weapons and even without chakra you're really good with a katana."

"What about you?"

"Without my chakra I'm better off relying on unarmed fighting anyway."

"Aren't you wary of arming me with such a thing while you have nothing?"

"No," Naruto replied without hesitation. "I trust you. Besides, my fists aren't nothing."

He rested his lips against the back of Sasuke's neck for a few seconds before drawing away and crawling back to his own futon.

"G'night, Sasuke."

"Yeah… whatever," Sasuke replied hesitantly.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: This is where I really miss my beta/sounding board *sniffs* I know Sasuke is a little too chatty but I guess I wanted to up the comfort level a little more in this chapter. I wanted it to seem like they are really getting closer and that Sasuke is opening up a little more despite still being a little bit of a prick. Unfortunately I'm not sure if the balance came off well or not and I wasn't sure how to make the scene a little more Sasuke friendly. I wanted it to seem like he was talking as though he was mainly making fun of Naruto but unwittingly sort of bonding with him at the same time and I'm not sure I quite got there. I think this was a bit more friendly than I had initially hoped. But oh well, it's kinda nice to see them finally sort of getting along though :)_

_Anyway, welcome back. See I promised March even if it did end up being a little later than I had anticipated *winces* But oh well, here we are. Trying to get Misunderstandings going delayed me more than I had thought it would. _

_So yeah this is mainly a bonding part. There will be no big fix to get out of this time and no real plot other than them just getting closer. This part should go for three chapters which will be nice seeing as the last few were so short. They'll spend a couple of nights in this town before moving on and it's drunken festival time next chapter so that should hopefully be a bit of fun. _

_Till then,_

_Dash._

_**Unsigned Reviews –** Wow, so many unsigned reviews this time, thanks guys! Just a little note though I had quite a few 'guest' reviews and while I don't mind at all if you don't want to leave a name, it might get confusing for you to find your reply amongst all the other guests. Leaving a short name will make that a lot easier. Plus I have running conversations with some of the people who leave unsigned reviews and it would be nice to keep track of comments as well. But it's totally up to you of course :)_

_**Guest – **__Haha, yes. And I will give Sasuke all the excuses he needs lol. Delicious indeed!_

_**Wanderer – **__Thank you! Glad you enjoyed RM :)_

_ Well the wait is over and I hope it was worth it *grins*_

_ Haha, well I haven't even really gotten to the real jealous possessive Sasuke stuff yet and I can't wait to get to it. I love writing him like that. Methinks you're right though that he is starting to feel something here, but what he makes of it will be an entirely different story. _

_ Ah yes, who doesn't love the imagery of seeing Sasuke chained to something. I'm just happy I got to use it in a slightly more fun situation this time lol. Totally wish I could've drawn that scene too :)_

_**Guest – **__Yay thanks! Glad you thought it was funny._

_Well if you like them being more friendly towards each other hopefully you will have enjoyed this latest chapter too. It is nice to see them a little more relaxed I must admit._

_Hrm, well I guess I went with the innocence a little more with him just because although he isn't completely unaware of the ins and outs of sex – no pun intended – it is something he hasn't actually experienced himself yet and that's gotta make you at least a little nervous about it all. I guess I never pictured Naruto having been in a situation to actually see people having sex right in front of him before no matter what influences he's had in his life. I suppose I just kept with the idea that all things sexual for Naruto were still entirely theoretical and therefore practical experiences are going to be new territory for him. I think as far as the orgy was concerned and him being confronted by that guy, he still managed to keep most of his cool and come up with a plan so perhaps he isn't as blown away by it as all that anyway. Crap, I rambled a bit sorry *laughs* well anyway, I hope that helps out with where my mind was going with that part of it anyway. You aren't the only one who thought he did come across as a little too innocent though so I will totally look at toning this down in the future. Thanks!_

_**Guest – **__Thanks! Glad to hear you are liking the pacing. That said, I am looking to add some things in now though that might speed it along just a little. But not romance exactly. No matter how physically close they get I won't be diving into actual romance any time soon. I haven't even plotted that far ahead yet and lemme tell you I've got base plots almost up to part 20 so that's saying something *grins* Emotional things will develop slowly I assure you :)_

_Well you'll be happy to know that when it does get to that point it may not be Naruto necessarily doing the chasing either ;)_

_**Guest – **__Thanks!_

_**Alexandras – **__Happy you are getting drawn into my little world :) And never fear I always finish every piece I have started and will continue to do so barring death or the zombie apocalypse lol._

_Sasuke does have his own little weird way of caring this is true and methinks even Naruto has begun to see it too._

_You aren't the only one surprised by Naruto's reactions. Perhaps I should tone down the innocence a little *grins*_

_**Nemesis Jedi – **__Actually when Naruto gets pissed off with Sasuke it will be with a lot more sadness than actual anger this time as well. He's going to be a lot more pissed at himself and saddened about Sasuke if that makes any sort of sense without me giving away the whys too early on._

_I love hearing people's ideas, I really do. But just sos you know, I already have a lot of that part already plotted and even partially written so I probably wont look at changing it now. But even so, like I said, I still love hearing the ideas so lay it on me :)_

_Haha, yeah wouldn't want the folks seeing him now huh? Especially not for what I have planned for the future ;)_

_Methinks it's a little too early in the relationship for Sasuke to be admitting things like that out loud but that would have been adorable if he had called him cute. Oh and you'll have just read the convo about the self-consciousness thing in the last chapter._

_Haha that would have been funny if he had walked in on something. My alternate idea was for him to walk in on a make out session where Sasuke was pretty much needing rescue but scrapped it in favour of something a little more fun and a little more Sasuke chained to a wall nice visuals lol._

_Honestly, I hadn't done the confinement thing on purpose but now that you have pointed it out it is interesting indeed. I will have to play with that._

_Well the comfortable with kissing thing… well, um, I will get into that a little more next chapter ;)_

_Oh yes, those two are so freaking adorable in the manga. I'm actually enjoying a flashback. That's pretty rare lol._

_**Piggy7869 – **__Haha, yes. I sort of post the chapters pretty quick once I get going on a part. Just another reason you should get an account *nudge nudge* Wow, I sound like I'm trying to sell the site or something lol._

_But anyway, wow, thanks. It's a huge compliment to say that I'm not being too predictable with this. I like being able to surprise people :)_

_I know what you mean about the updating. I'm the first to admit that sometimes you need to take a time out for real life, but I've waited about six months plus for a single chapter of a fic before and sometimes you can't help but lose interest because you just can't remember where it left off last time. So I feel that pain and try to plan it so that although sometimes there might be a bit of a wait in between parts for this, the chapters for each part will come out generally within a week or less of each other. Though admittedly I do have plans for the future of making short summaries before each part just as a catch up if the wait is too long but mainly because the fic will probably turn out really long. But totally I can see how much more it would help getting immersed when you get to read it more often :)_

_Haha, you can tell how much fun I had writing that last part 6 huh? I'm happy Naruto's take on Sasuke's come hither persona worked so well. Honestly I was wondering if I underdid it just a little. But I'm glad to see it went over well._

_*grins* Yep, the quick save. I got a pretty good reaction to that scene overall. I'm so glad that little idea popped into my head now lol. But yeah, after that it all flowed really nicely. Sasuke kinda likes the biting doesn't he?_

_I love the ol' get rich quick scheme although I was worried it might seem OOC for Naruto to be up for stealing. But needs must and all that. Besides, I'm not sure he realises just what sort of an influence Sasuke is on him just yet lol. But as you will see next chapter, that can go both ways but I'll let that speak for itself. Indeed drunkenness does give me a lot of freedom with the characters and I will indeed play with that you can be assured ;) Of course I will have to reign in my imagination somewhat *sniffs*_

_**Shadower469x0 – **__Thanks! Glad you are enjoying it :)_

_**Emicallitoff – **__I can see why you'd usually prefer to stick with completes so you aren't waiting for updates or enjoying a fic that just suddenly stops. But I'm not terrible with updating most of the time so hopefully the waiting won't be too bad :) Plus as mentioned above only death and the zombie apocalypse will stop me from finishing a fic._

_Thanks for the kind words and I feel the love :)_


	16. Cashed Up Ch2

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 7**

**Cashed Up**

**Chapter 2/3**

True to his word, the very next morning they hunted around a few weapons stores until they found a katana that Sasuke liked. It put a bigger dent in their pockets than either of them had expected, but they still had plenty left over and now with at least one of them armed they felt a little more relaxed than before.

Well Sasuke did, with Naruto it was hard to tell. Since finding out that this country wasn't like the last one, Naruto seemed to have little fear of their surroundings. It probably came from a long used to mindset that he was stronger than most anyone anyway and losing his chakra hadn't seemed to teach him otherwise.

But Sasuke was acutely aware of his own shortcomings now. Not that he thought he had much to fear from everyday citizenry, he was still a vastly skilled fighter chakra or no. But having only physical prowess, no matter how good he was and having nothing left to fall back on made him feel vulnerable.

He hated feeling vulnerable.

It did occur to him that Naruto had worked this out for himself. There was really no clear reason to arm Sasuke at present. All it did was eat up their money and give Sasuke some sense of calm about their predicament. Naruto might be a moron sometimes as far as Sasuke was concerned but he could be inconveniently insightful sometimes too and Sasuke wondered whether Naruto wanting to get a sword for Sasuke was just to give his companion a greater sense of peace and control than he had before rather than actually feeling any sort of danger.

Sasuke hated to admit it, but it had worked. Assuming the dobe had done this for him of course. Though perhaps he was just giving Naruto a little too much credit.

They had only planned on staying in this village for the night and heading out today but sword hunting had taken up the better part of their morning and Sasuke was weighing up the pros and cons on moving on or spending another night with a bed and hot water. Naruto meanwhile was looking around him as the village was setting up bunting for some kind of town festival with a look in his eye that told Sasuke he was thinking about staying too.

"Sasuke…" Naruto began eventually.

"Fine," Sasuke cut him off. "One more night, but then we have to go."

Naruto gave him a big smile. "Sasuke…"

"No."

"But I-"

"No."

"They're having-"

"_No!"_

Naruto's smile turned down a little at the corners and he turned forward, watching him out of the corner of his eye. "Fine, I'll check the festival out on my own. You're such a bring down you'd probably ruin it anyway."

Sasuke watched him try to be manipulative for a full minute. There was a festival on tonight and Naruto wanted him to come along. But knowing he couldn't tempt Sasuke with regular fun things he was trying to tempt him instead with the possibility of ruining Naruto's good time. And it might have worked if Naruto's attempts at deception weren't as see through as well polished glass.

"If you look at me like that for too much longer your eye will get stuck that way."

"It will not!" Naruto replied hotly looking away and rubbing his eyelid anyway for good measure. "C'mon teme, they'll have games and stuff where you can show off and win at everything."

"No."

"So you're going to sit in our room all night and stare at the walls and be _bored._ Is that the master plan?"

Sasuke hadn't thought of that. While Naruto was off at the festival he'd have some rare alone time to do whatever he wanted. He didn't have to spend his time in their room.

"No."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Okay fine, be boring. I'm going to play games, eat great food and watch fireworks."

"Why do you care whether I come or not?"

At first Naruto seemed perplexed by the question. "Well it's more fun going to a festival with someone else than on your own."

"Maybe you can pick up a date while you're there," Sasuke told him snidely.

"Well if you won't be my date, maybe I will!" Naruto thought about that for a moment. "That didn't come out the way I meant it to."

"Obviously."

* * *

When dusk came along the sounds of music could be heard echoing through the streets. Naruto left the room to go down to the festivities while Sasuke left the town entirely.

He didn't go far, just off into the surrounding fields where he could practise with his new katana in peace and get some exercise. He'd been worried lately that he hadn't been training enough and tonight gave him a good excuse to start training again.

He went through some warm-ups and then started on some drills, all the while he could hear the music and laughter of the festival kick into full gear in the distance.

He found the noise a little distracting though and after an hour he let his aching arms drop and stood and looked over at the glow of the town for a while. No doubt somewhere in there Naruto was busy stuffing his face and making a fool of himself.

Maybe after he was done training he could wander past the festival and see what the idiot was up to. Maybe annoy him a little before going back to the room for the night.

A cool breeze picked up and tugged at Sasuke's clothes and tossed his hair while he stood there contemplating it.

Of course he could go now, training could wait until tomorrow. It might even be easier training with someone to aim at.

Besides, Naruto might well be getting himself into trouble, he had a knack for it.

Sasuke sighed and let his head drop while he tried to work out what was wrong with him.

* * *

The way that Naruto's face lit up when he saw Sasuke almost made Sasuke turn around and leave again. But he didn't, he fixed Naruto with a deep scowl as the moron ran up to him and caught his arm.

"C'mon, the dancers are on soon and I don't want to miss it."

Naruto was acting like he'd known this would happen. It annoyed him more than the fact that he had let it happen. But what could he say at this point? Better to pretend that he'd known it all along and go with it than protest otherwise or get overly angry about it. He didn't want Naruto to think he'd won.

Sasuke even allowed himself to be steered off to an area where Naruto gestured for him to sit down on a log while he ran off again. Sasuke saw that the logs were set in a large ring. Inside the ring were a few small braziers for light where a few dancing girls in long flowing sapphire blue skirts were limbering up.

Naruto came back, depositing himself on the log next to Sasuke and handing him a bowl of something and a mug than smelt strongly of alcohol.

The food smelt pleasant enough but Sasuke eyed Naruto as he took a gulp out of his mug. After a moment he sipped at his own and then felt his throat begin to burn. He tried desperately not to cough which made his eyes water badly.

Naruto grinned at him. "Good, isn't it?"

"Moonshine," Sasuke muttered. "What the fuck is wrong with you? You could get drunk off this just by sniffing the fumes."

Naruto shrugged like it was no big deal. "It's just cider apparently. I've never really drunk before."

"Because you aren't old enough," Sasuke pointed out.

"I don't think they care here. C'mon Sasuke, loosen up. Have some fun!"

Sasuke just gave him a look.

But despite his objections, after he'd finished his food he did take a few more drinks out of his mug. It wasn't so bad after the first try and tasted faintly of apples.

They watched the dancing girls, Naruto occasionally clapped along with the rest of the crowd and Sasuke was vaguely aware at some point that Naruto left and came back with a full mug to replace both their empty ones.

Whatever the stuff he was drinking was it was pretty strong but since he'd started drinking he didn't want to stop at this point. Stopping now might give Naruto the impression that he couldn't handle it. Besides as he got down through the second mug the pleasant apple flavour became stronger while the after-burn started to lessen.

He watched the girls dancing with a kind of focus that had less to do with what he was seeing and more to do with just letting his slightly fuzzy vision rest of something for a while. But as the girl he was watching started to drift closer he became aware that she was watching him right back. He tried looking at the ground after that but the girl twirling around in front of him seemed very intent on getting his focus back and he could hardly pretend not to notice her anymore.

She was pretty, he supposed, with dark chestnut hair and even darker eyes but the look on her face was annoying him. She was trying to flirt with him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Naruto with an odd sort of worried amusement. It was almost like he was entertained at the girl's attempts to get Sasuke's attention but also worried that at some point he might have to rescue Sasuke, or the girl come to that.

Sasuke solved it for him by getting to his feet a little unsteadily and grabbing a fistful of Naruto's shirt and dragging both himself and his companion away. Naruto had to get up and follow or risk ending up flat on his back in the dirt.

A dozen or so steps away Naruto managed to pry Sasuke's fingers off his shirt and hanging onto those fingers, pull Sasuke to a stop.

"Hey teme, settle down. If I knew you were gonna get eye molested by the dancers we coulda left sooner. Doesn't mean we have to leave the whole thing yet."

"I've had enough," Sasuke told him looking down at Naruto's hand still holding his fingers loosely. "Are you holding my hand?"

"No, I just haven't let go of it yet," Naruto answered like it didn't matter. "C'mon Sasuke, the fireworks'll be on soon."

"Fine, but not here."

* * *

On their way out of town, Naruto managed to get another couple of drinks as Sasuke led him up to the rise he'd been practising on earlier. From here they had a fantastic view of the town and where the fireworks were supposed to be. The moon shed enough light that neither of them fell over while wandering over the dark fields. Sasuke sat down in the cool grass and Naruto sort of half fell/half sat beside him.

"You're drunk," Sasuke told him.

Expecting vehement refusals Sasuke was quite surprised to hear Naruto reply, "Yep. So are you."

Sasuke blinked a few times. "Probably."

Naruto peered into his mug. "What could someone do to an apple to make it into this?"

"A lot."

He didn't have a lot of experience with alcohol but he was pretty sure apples weren't meant to be flammable.

Naruto finished his mug and leaned back on his hands with a contented sigh. "I knew you'd come back."

Sasuke warmed himself up for a cutting reply but didn't voice it. Instead his alcohol infused brain instead chose to ask, "How?"

"I know you aren't the most fun loving guy in the world, but even you have to find some way to relax sometimes."

"Training relaxes me."

"Plus, I knew you'd get bored without me," Naruto continued as though he hadn't heard.

Had that been it, had Sasuke simply gotten bored being on his own again? It seemed unlikely since he was used to being alone prior to this. But just like Naruto had known he would, he turned up after a mere hour and gone searching for Naruto.

"Left alone you'd probably end up in jail again. That was enough of a pain the last time."

Naruto grinned at him and then the fireworks began. Sasuke watched Naruto's face as he stared up at the bursting colours of light in awe, mouth open, completely stupid look on his face and wondered if Naruto had been right about something else as well. Perhaps he did just need to relax. He'd spent so much of his life wound up into a tight ball of rage and hate that perhaps now it seemed like he was unwinding a little. It was almost like a tight little ache in his chest was slowly fading and he was left with the vague feeling of leaving something behind, but something he could perhaps live without. He wondered if it had anything to do with where he was, miles from home with nothing pressing to occupy his thoughts but travelling and his travelling companion. It was like he'd told Naruto last night, it was kind of a relief and now he realised just how true that was.

He turned his head forward again just in time to receive a kiss on the cheek. He didn't ask what it was for this time.

"Don't make a big deal out of it," Sasuke advised. "Perhaps I _was_ just bored."

Thankfully Naruto didn't reply though Sasuke did feel him lean against him a little as they watched the rest of the fireworks in silence.

He didn't feel like asking him to move.

* * *

They stumbled back to the room to find their futons made up for them already so Naruto wasted no time stripping down to his shorts and sprawling on his back into the comfort. His head was still buzzing from the drink so it took him a while to notice Sasuke had closed the door behind him and collapsed onto his own bed still fully clothed.

Naruto grinned in his direction. "You too drunk to even take your clothes off eh?"

Sasuke didn't reply and Naruto realised it was because he had passed out.

Chuckling softly, Naruto rolled onto his knees and shuffled over to Sasuke. His friend was breathing easy, shirt already off one shoulder and his chest almost entirely exposed. In the moonlight streaming in through the open window Sasuke's skin looked incredibly pale and soft.

Naruto gave the skin a wobbly frown before he began the task of helping Sasuke out of his shoes and clothes for the night. It took all of Naruto's focus to do the task in the state he was in but he managed it without waking Sasuke up at all. He'd just leave Sasuke's shirt on as it was because it would be too difficult getting him out of it and he seemed to like sleeping in it anyway.

Naruto swept unfocussed eyes over Sasuke's pale form ever amazed at just how good Sasuke always seemed to look. Naruto had thought he was used to looking at him now, but there was just something about him right in this moment that seemed different and not a little vulnerable. It was a side of Sasuke rarely seen, but Naruto liked the way his features smoothed in sleep with no hint of anger, malice or even sarcastic mirth. He just looked peaceful and content and it was the only time Naruto figured he'd ever see such an expression on Sasuke.

Unsteady fingers ghosted down the side of Sasuke's face, tracing his jaw line down to his chin. His mouth hung slightly open, lips parted. He ran one finger over the soft lower lip causing dark eyelashes to flutter against Sasuke's cheek and his eyes to open fractionally.

Sasuke licked his bottom lip as though the touch had tingled or something.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

Sasuke watched him with half open sleepy eyes. "Tell me."

"You just look so…comfortable."

Naruto wasn't sure if he had meant it to be a reference from when he had kissed Sasuke before. And if he had meant it that way, he wasn't sure why he was bringing it up now. Had he wanted to kiss Sasuke again? Why? Again it didn't seem like a sexual want or anything, he'd just wanted to feel those relaxed and contented lips against his own, feel Sasuke in the most peaceful happy moment he seemed to have.

Sasuke was still obviously a little intoxicated so he took his time recalling the somewhat obscure reference.

"Okay," Sasuke replied before closing his eyes again.

Naruto didn't know what to do. Was that a go-ahead, or was that just acknowledging Naruto's explanation? Oh well, he was about to find out.

He leant down and carefully pressed his lips to Sasuke's cheek, the smooth slightly warm relaxed skin felt nice against his lips. Sasuke hadn't even flinched. For some odd reason Naruto didn't move away after that but across a little. It had only been his intention to kiss his cheek, feel that relaxed skin against his own but had he been thinking clearly he might have thought about where his head now was. But on his journey from Sasuke's cheek, his lips brushed against Sasuke's. It had been more or less accidental but didn't feel too strange to make him immediately move on either. Instead he moved his lips against the other's lazily as though wanting to keep that peaceful feel. Sasuke responded without too much encouragement, even parting his lips and licking once briefly at Naruto's bottom lip just like Naruto had done to him previously. Then Naruto felt a hand in the back of his hair, the strands moving around deft fingers as Sasuke drew his head down further and pressed their lips together more firmly.

As his tongue invaded Sasuke's mouth he felt rather than heard Sasuke's deep moan. The moan was a new thing, he hadn't heard that before, at least not what he figured was a real one, and it added a little something more to what was happening so much so that he drew back, his eyes firmly resting on Sasuke's wet lips, his half open glittering black eyes and completely blank expression.

It was at that point that he realised what he had done. He hadn't been thinking but it had felt like the most natural thing to do at the time. But now…

Naruto went to back away but Sasuke sat up, got up on his knees, gripped the sides of Naruto's neck and reinitiated the kiss.

It wasn't so soft, nor so gentle this time. A thumb on his chin was coaxing his mouth to open and after a little hesitation he complied and felt the brush of Sasuke's tongue against his bottom lip before Sasuke sucked it in between his teeth.

A hand low down on his back pushed their bodies together and this time it was Naruto who groaned. He hadn't really comprehended how this was affecting him until another burgeoning hardness was pushed up against his own. Even through his shorts he felt it clearly, trapped in between their warm bodies.

Okay now this had a hint of the sexual in it. But he didn't want to back away this time. His drunken hazy mind forgot what was so wrong a second ago and all he could do now was _feel_.

Hesitation melted away in that moment and Naruto took back the initiative, pushing Sasuke back onto the futon and sliding up in between his legs to nip at the pale and, as it turned out, sensitive skin of Sasuke's neck. He was perhaps a little too eager because Sasuke hissed softly but it did make his friend grind up against him adding friction to the trapped heat of his erection as well.

Oh yeah, definitely sexual.

Naruto's drunken head felt dizzy and disorientated at this most unexpected change of events so much so that he almost called a time out just so he could breathe again and collect his thoughts. But Sasuke seemed determined to not let him get his moment and in a swift movement flipped them over so he was straddling Naruto's trapped legs. He pinned Naruto's hands above his head and kissed him deeply, tongue delving in as though it could map out every nook and cranny with the organ. Naruto tried to free his hands but Sasuke growled ever so slightly and drew back to nip at his lip as though reluctant to give up his newfound dominance.

Well at least some things about their relationship never changed and that seemed to include their basic need to get one up on the other. But even with Sasuke's weight on him Naruto yanked his hands free and sat up, pulling Sasuke firmly into his lap.

Unfortunately this meant that lips were no longer within easy reach but Naruto didn't want to let that stop him. Sasuke's shirt was practically hanging off his shoulders at this point and Naruto had unhindered access to Sasuke's chest which he took advantage of by running his tongue up between Sasuke's pectoral muscles before diverting to instead lick once quickly at a hardened nipple. He didn't know what he was doing or why he'd done it. He'd just felt an irresistible urge to taste skin and had given in without thought. But no matter, despite his inexperience about what he was supposed to be doing, Sasuke drew in a shaky breath empowering Naruto's confidence enough to close his lips around the tight bud and graze his teeth across sensitive flesh. Sasuke rocked against him, grinding them together before stopping abruptly when a loud frantic knock sounded on their door.

The pair froze as a voice shouted on the other side, "Sirs, we need to evacuate quickly, the building is on fire. Sirs?"

"Yeah we heard!" Naruto called beyond irritated by the interruption.

What was even worse was that the interruption had not only cleared their heads a little of the drunken fog, but also called attention to what they were doing. They looked at each other for a while, not speaking until Sasuke frowned deeply and boosted himself up. Without saying a single word he began collecting their things and dressing quickly which Naruto figured he should also be doing before the entire building went up in flames.

* * *

Out in the street, the pair of them stood side by side near the other assembled guests staring up at a building that was most definitely not on fire.

"Sorry folks false alarm!" One of the hotel staff was calling out. "The manager has been through and it was just some guests letting fireworks off their balcony."

"Who lets fireworks off on their balcony," Naruto questioned sharply to no one in particular.

"What does it matter?" Sasuke asked. "We can go back inside and I'm tired."

With that Sasuke set off back inside without waiting for Naruto or looking back to see if he was following. Naruto followed slowly after him, unsure what would happen when they got back to their room and not sure he was entirely willing to know which way it might go.

Not that it mattered. When he let himself back in, Sasuke was curled up in his blankets, his back to Naruto, either already asleep or pretending to be. Naruto took the hint and lay down on his own futon and closed his eyes, willing sleep that was a very long time in coming.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: So hooray for booze? I question this because I think there will be half of you going 'yeah! About time!' while the other half of you are in shock at the sudden step into the physical. Of course I suspect just about all of you are deeply frustrated with the hotel manager even more right about now lol. Or me :) But anyway, perhaps not as crazy as it could have gone, still too soon for that, but still something it will be hard for the boys to simply forget about. _

_It's kinda cool that taking things so slowly is letting me focus on the little steps more. Instead of kiss, grope, sex I get to have longer explanations about each kiss, each touch and the physical feelings it is provoking and I'm really liking being able to dwell on those details a little more. But maybe that's just me lol._

_One more chapter for Part 7 to go._

_See you next chapter!_

_Dash._

Unsigned Reviews –

_**Guest – **__I love oblivious Naruto and I really don't know why. Something about it just seems so adorable sometimes. Perhaps I just love it for those moments when he does actually realise what is going on and he's all like O.O haha_

_He does seem to have a problem with the clothes, doesn't he? Perhaps they are affecting him a little too much *waggles eyebrows*_

_**Alexandras (Alex) – **__Yeah, I'm not really detailed with those am I? I'm just not sure I'm particularly good at them to be honest. But we'll see if I can get a bit better later on when we need it :)_

_Hrm, well I couldn't go too nuts for a festival, little too soon for too much action but should be a positive step in the physical direction *big smiles* for now still simmering ;)_

_**Celesseh – **__Haha, well perhaps it wasn't all that slow last chapter but still got some ways to go yet. But exactly I'm hoping to just get them to that breaking point before moving it any further forwards. Hopefully the last chapter wasn't too much upping of the physical for you :)_

_I do enjoy the underlying tension stuff which is how I managed to last this long without them all over each other haha._

_Thanks!_

_**Nemesis Jedi – **__Oh I really wish you had an account at this point because I want to talk to you about your idea but don't really want to publish want I want to tell you here if that makes sense. Let's just say I was staring a little open-mouthed at your story idea. It actually wasn't totally unlike what I had already plotted hence the fly-catcher pose. But alas I can't publish here why. I am biting my lip so much right now lol._

_Oh and Sasuke can never be chained up too much in the interests of fun ;)_

_Morose Uchihas indeed. Bloody Madara haha._

_Wasn't sure how the bonding would go down but happy to see it was met with general liking. It was nice to play with mellow Sasuke that was for sure._

_My idea about Sasuke is that he is just confident, especially when trying to prove a point to Naruto. Whether it is completely founded or not is another thing entirely lol. _

_Haha, well relationship upgrade indeed after this chapter *big grin*_

_I can see how this seems more like fantasy world rather than a Japanese setting but methinks I'll still give Sasuke his katana. But you almost made me change it last minute cause the comment made me think of new and exciting weapons I could give him. I was almost gonna give him twin swords or something cool like that. Maybe later cause you've got me thinking now :)_

_**Wanderer – **__Haha, you say it like it was soooo long lol. But I totally take it as a compliment :) Really hoped you enjoyed the drunken fun. And of course I would respond cause I like talking to you *big grin*_


	17. Cashed Up Ch3

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 7**

**Cashed Up**

**Chapter 3/3**

The next morning they left the town behind and headed out into the wilderness once more. Neither of them had spoken much to one another except when they needed to and the tension between them was high. Sasuke seemed a little angry though and Naruto couldn't decide whether it was at him or at himself. Naruto meanwhile, was just confused.

Kissing Sasuke, being close to him physically, had been easy since their little performance with Morio. It seemed nothing to rest his head on his shoulder, grab his arm or even touch their lips together. Well for Naruto it hadn't been. It was comfortable, relaxing and nice to have such close contact with another person like that even if it didn't have to mean anything more. Sasuke had been a little more stand-offish about it but that was just Sasuke. He might complain a little but he hardly ever forcibly rejected the contact as he might have before the incident at Morio's. But Naruto had figured it was just Sasuke's way coupled with his weird sense of personal space. It seemed okay for Naruto to lick his neck or touch him with his hands, but the moment Sasuke's lips became the focus or the touches became a little more friendly he complained, drew away or got sullen. Well usually. Before last night anyway.

But even with all of Sasuke's weirdness Naruto did think at that point that maybe he, Naruto, was the one acting strangest of all. Their previous friendship had never been like this. The only real times they bonded in a positive way was when they were facing a common enemy. There was no familiar touching, no companionable banter and certainly no kissing. Well maybe once. Or twice. But those had been less a choice and more unfortunate accidents. And after Sasuke had left Konoha, well even just before he'd left, they'd been little better than enemies. So who could blame Sasuke for getting bent out of shape about the drastic change in the dynamic? Especially because it was mainly all Naruto's doing.

Or was it?

Naruto thought back on all that had happened between them and he wasn't certain that he was totally to blame for the new tension. The act for Morio had been initiated by Sasuke, that was for sure. He had seemed so desperate to move on that he might have done near anything to get closer to home. The act itself had almost seemed desperate too, the way Sasuke had kissed him, moved against him and touched him, so really maybe Naruto wasn't to blame thinking that lesser touching than that was okay now. Of course circumstances weren't the same now, not by a long shot but Sasuke still did the odd thing that made Naruto wonder. On their own these incidences seemed like no big deal, but pieced together it presented a bigger picture and shifted the blame of their situation less solely on Naruto and more shared between the both of them.

Apart from the time at Morio's, Sasuke had of his own volition touched him at least three times. He didn't count their time in the box sharing water, that was just survival. So the first incident was when he wrapped his legs around Naruto in Lady Saito's chamber, - albeit just to draw him closer and add a sense of menace to his commands - when he licked the side of his neck and again in the river afterwards when he had rubbed at Naruto's neck trying to get rid of the lipstick left there after his ordeal in the very same chamber. It was an innocent touch, but how different was it from all the other familiar touching? Except for the kissing of course. The last time Naruto had kissed him it had been Sasuke to follow up and push the comfortable boundaries of the kiss. It was him that had moaned and made it into something Naruto hadn't consciously intended it to be. They'd both been drunk this was true and add that to the fact that neither of them had probably experienced anything like that save with each other before and all you had was two confused, drunk and sexually frustrated teenagers groping at each other.

And then came the even more worrying realisation of how much he had gotten into it. He'd gotten hard, kissed him, licked him and bit him because he'd gotten carried away in the moment and because at the time he'd really wanted to. Of course the drunk, confused, sexually frustrated angle might have had a lot to do with that as well, but he refused to believe that no matter how sexually inexperienced he was he would get hard just for anyone. It was Sasuke who had coaxed that response from him and that idea freaked him out for a lot of different reasons.

Foremost he was freaked out because Sasuke was a guy. Admittedly a very attractive guy who looked, felt and tasted amazing, but a guy all the same. He hadn't been lying to Sasuke before, he was pretty certain he liked girls. In his younger days the thought of finally getting to kiss Sakura had made his face flush, his belly flutter and his heart race. He had never had that same feeling toward a guy, not even the guy he had been grinding against last night. Of course Sasuke could say things to him that made his heart flutter a little bit but it was mainly due to shock and surprise than overwhelming lust. Also he supposed he never spent much time dwelling on it either. The few times he'd kissed Sasuke it hadn't been planned, he hadn't thought about it, it just seemed to be the most natural thing to do at the time. He wondered if that meant he had wanted it more or less.

But the next big hurdle in his dilemma was that not only was Sasuke a guy, but he was Sasuke. The jerk who'd deserted his friends and his village, sided with the enemy on numerous occasions and who Naruto had vowed to stop, fatally if he continued his path of destruction through to Konoha. Of course their fated final battle had come, they'd fought, and despite Naruto's claims to be the one to stop him, he'd choked. He couldn't kill the one person he'd wanted so much to understand, the person he most cared for, his brother, his friend and he'd been unable to follow through. He'd lost, but then Sasuke hadn't killed him either. He'd left Naruto, much like their fight at the waterfall and instead of this time following through on his insane plans had walked away from everything never to be seen again. Until now.

To say that they had a complicated history between them seemed like a gross understatement considering their past together and though admittedly, his obsession with saving Sasuke and bringing him home had bordered on the obsessive sometimes, he refused to believe it was because of infatuation. This was Sasuke, even when they'd been friends he was a belittling jerk who teased him and made fun of him at every available opportunity. He'd gotten constantly irritated and angry with Naruto for doing stupid things but at the same time he _did_ seem to recognise the potential in him too. It drew them together as rivals and friends but it wasn't warm or affectionate and it never occurred to Naruto that he had ever wanted it to be. Sure he could have stood for Sasuke being a little nicer to him, but it wasn't Sasuke's way to get real close to people so you just had to take what you could get and be happy when he did acknowledge any kind of closer bond.

Just like that time Sasuke had said he'd wanted to fight him, the acknowledgement in the statement, the idea that Sasuke felt he was worthy had made his face flush, his belly flutter and his heart…to…race…

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks making Sasuke look back at him with irritation clearly written across his face.

"What _is_ wrong with you?"

"A lot, I think," Naruto replied softly.

Could he be so messed up in the head that the idea of being worthy in Sasuke's eyes gave him the same feeling as the thought of kissing the girl he was crushing on? How fucked up was that?

"Well do you have to stand still for that or can we keep moving?"

Naruto started off again catching up to Sasuke who was watching him closely, irritated but somewhat thoughtful at the same time. When they were side by side they started off again along the dirt track once more.

* * *

There were no more signs of new towns that day so the pair wandered off the track at dusk till they found a suitable place to camp for the night. At least keeping the river on their left gave them a clear indication they were still heading in the right direction albeit in a winding sort of long way around direction. But along the river was where the towns were so it was better than just up and heading off into dense wilderness with only the sun and the stars to act as a map. It was annoying to be so far out of his element. Familiar ways of telling what was north were all but useless apart from following the sun, but the river was a comfort. It might meander a bit but at least they always had clean water at their side.

"We should have bought a boat," Naruto said watching the water and breaking the hours long silence previous.

Sasuke looked at him and then at the river. "That's not a horrible idea, even though the river gets really shallow occasionally. But I like the idea better that we don't have to keep an eye on it when we get to a town. I'd rather have a bed to sleep in occasionally than not having to walk as much and keep guard over a boat. Besides there's too many rocks to negotiate."

For someone who was an outcast and didn't have a real home anymore, Sasuke sure liked his comforts. He was always in a better mood after some hot food, a warm bath and eight hours of sleep on some proper bedding. If he went for too long without these things he became grouchy and irritable. Well more than he usually was anyway.

"Well at least we have blankets now," Naruto put in, spreading out his bedding for the night and sitting on the blankets. He looked up just in time to see Sasuke shrugging out of his shirt. He continued to watch him as he stepped out of his pants too and stood up again, completely naked, the warm pink and orange dusk light making his normally pale skin look ruddy and flushed.

Naruto turned his head away quickly before Sasuke could catch him looking.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Where?" Naruto asked, steadfastly looking at his shoes and nothing else.

"To bathe moron, what the hell did you think I meant?"

"I'll do it later. I'm too tired right now."

Naruto didn't hear a response to that, but he knew Sasuke hadn't left to go to the river yet. So he made himself look up, his eyes skimming over a perfect body quickly to finally rest on Sasuke's troubled expression.

"What?" Naruto asked as casually as he could.

"Don't be weird," Sasuke advised.

"How am I being weird? I'm tired, I'll wash off later. What's the problem?"

"It isn't, so long as you don't make it into one."

That was the trouble with Sasuke. You could pretend something wasn't bothering you or pretend something didn't happen just like Naruto was trying to do right now and Sasuke would ignore the lies and just keep on, confident that he knew the truth. At least that was new Sasuke. Old Sasuke would have been happier not to bother with him. He really missed old Sasuke sometimes. But new Sasuke just didn't seem to like not knowing things.

"It's just a wash teme, you don't need me to hold your hand do you?" Naruto asked hoping that perhaps snideness would get the job down where bullshitting had failed.

Sasuke walked over to him, as always, completely unashamed of his nakedness and squatted down directly in front of Naruto, locking their eyes.

"Don't be weird. Act like yourself. You never used to let me out of your sight unless necessary. "

"I trust you."

"So you say."

Of course Sasuke might think he knew the truth, but it didn't mean that he was always right. Sasuke must think that Naruto was refusing because Sasuke might try something with him again. Either way, obviously pretending nothing happened was not going to get his point across so they might as well deal with it.

"I'm not afraid of you Sasuke. I just need some space."

"Don't think about it," Sasuke suggested. "I'm not."

For some reason that comment made Naruto a little angry. Here he had been all day trying to work things out, find the meanings behind the gestures and trying like hell not to completely blame himself for their current issues and Sasuke had apparently just washed the whole incident from his mind like it was no big deal.

But then, hadn't that been what he'd been telling Sasuke until now? The touching didn't mean anything and that the kisses were no big deal? He suddenly felt very stupid.

"I know I said it wasn't a big deal, but don't you think last night was a little different?"

"Of course it was. We were drunk. And yes, you did say before that that was no big deal for you. I suggest you take your own words to heart."

"Why? Because you want me to forget about it?"

"Not forget, but move on, get over it and for fucks sake, stop sulking."

Naruto snorted, "That's rich, coming from you. You spent most of the day in an irritated sulk. Why aren't I allowed to have five minutes doing the same thing?"

"Because you aren't like that," Sasuke told him simply. "And when you do it it's annoying. That's what put me in that irritated sulk, as you call it, for most of the day. You were being weird."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to have pissed you off," Naruto said insincerely.

Sasuke frowned deeply at him. He really didn't look happy at this point.

"No you aren't. But I am _marginally_ sorry that I broke something between us. But if you keep acting like this I won't be sorry for long because I won't care anymore."

In just a few sentences Sasuke could say so much. He had alluded that not only was last night his fault, but that he also cared that it had obviously bothered Naruto so much that it threw the normalcy of their relationship off what it had been before last night. But it was a close thing apparently. Sasuke didn't get close to people, he didn't care about people so it wouldn't be difficult for him to go back to that state of mind if things remained tense between them. Naruto was shocked to realise how much he had impacted on Sasuke this last month to make him care even a little.

"I think it was a joint effort," Naruto said after a moment. "I just don't know what's okay anymore."

"As if I wouldn't tell you what wasn't," Sasuke told him with a smirk.

Sasuke seemed to be thinking deeply after that. As though he was contemplating doing something he _really_ didn't want to do. And then surprise of surprises, Sasuke leant forward and gave him the briefest touch of lips against his cheek just like Naruto sometimes did to him when he wasn't expecting it. When Sasuke leant away from him he wasn't smirking anymore. His expression looked a little intense.

"No big deal, right?"

He wondered if Sasuke was trying to confuse him on purpose. Did Sasuke want a repeat of last night, or did he just want to let Naruto know that his little kisses before last night were okay now?

"I thought you hated it when I did that."

"It annoys me but I've gotten used to it. Just don't make it a habit."

Alright so that answered that. Naruto thought perhaps he wasn't getting everything Sasuke was trying to tell him but he did feel he got the important parts like; Light friendly kisses moderately okay, jamming your tongue down each other's throats may not be so okay. Right, check.

So despite his earlier mind's ramblings about what their relationship really was to him he decided that it could wait. Nothing more would happen so it seemed stupid to dwell on it so much, especially when he couldn't resolve his feelings even in his own mind to his satisfaction. So simple and easy it was, he could deal with that.

"So, are you coming?"

Naruto nodded with a brief smile. "Sure."

* * *

Naruto followed Sasuke down to the river like they had done every night while camping out but this time Sasuke bought along a small bag that Naruto assumed held soap and other useful things they had until now just simply done without. Sasuke had bought a variety of things in the market before departing town, but since shopping bored the ever-living shit out of Naruto he hadn't been paying much attention to what Sasuke had gotten. Mostly it was travelling gear like bedding, canteens, rations, flint and a few other odds and ends that would make their lives more comfortable while they travelled. Naruto hadn't complained about the use of the money because if the maps were to be believed, they may well be travelling for months more before they even caught sight of anything familiar. It made Naruto wonder yet again how the hell he and Sasuke had come to be so far away from home.

They got straight into the river to wet themselves down before climbing out again to set about scrubbing their skin with the soap Sasuke had bought. Sasuke went first, scrubbing the soap over his body till it left slick bubbly streaks on his skin before handing it over to Naruto and going into the river to wash off. He had taken a bottle in with him that floated by his elbow till he was finished washing the soap from himself. Then he picked up the bottle, squirted a decent amount of something into his hand and then reached up to rub it through his hair after he'd thrown the bottle back onto the bank.

Sasuke had bought shampoo. Naruto stifled a laugh.

"If I don't wash it at least occasionally I'm sure it would start to stick up like yours does," Sasuke told him.

"So by washing it, it only sticks up at the back? Oh yeah, great improvement," Naruto told him with a huge smile standing up and wading into the river.

As he washed the soap off himself he noticed the poor job Sasuke was doing with his hair. He seemed altogether too rushed to get the job done and was missing large chunks of his hair in the process.

"Fuck me, Sasuke," Naruto said wading over behind Sasuke. "If you're going to act like a vain prick, at least do it properly."

Sasuke didn't seem to understand what Naruto was doing until he batted Sasuke's hands away from his hair and set about working the shampoo into the parts of Sasuke's hair he had missed.

Sasuke went a little tense at first but soon relaxed just as Naruto was thinking he'd been a little too forward again. Sasuke let his head drop back as Naruto worked his fingers through his hair.

Generally speaking, Naruto didn't usually like it when people touched his own hair. It was usually to ruffle his spikes in a condescending way and he'd grown up to find it mostly annoying and only sometimes appreciated in any affectionate sense. Sasuke on the other hand seemed to enjoy it. He sighed deeply as Naruto's fingers moved across his scalp and through the ends of his hair. His shoulders sagged and Naruto could imagine that his eyes had dropped closed as well.

When the shampoo was thoroughly worked through he encouraged Sasuke to kneel down and lean backwards so his hair went into the water and Naruto could rinse the soap free of the soft black strands. He'd imagined Sasuke's hair would feel like this: soft, light and silky. Even wet it felt amazing.

Naruto was concentrating on his task so much that he didn't notice Sasuke looking up at him at first, his expression bland, but Naruto could tell from his eyes that he was thinking deeply.

"What?" Naruto asked sharply, not liking to be watched so closely.

"Weirdly you look even more stupid when you're concentrating on something," Sasuke informed him with a smirk.

Unimpressed by the observation Naruto put his hand on Sasuke's forehead and pushed his face underwater.

He'd been just about done with Sasuke's hair anyway and let him up again quickly.

Sasuke's head broke the surface spluttering but he didn't seem terribly angry. He stood up blinking water out of his eyes and continued to give Naruto that smirk before unexpectedly lunging for him, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him backwards into the water. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's waist as he went down, dragging the Uchiha with him and the pair grappled underwater for a moment, both trying to get the upper hand before the need for air became insistent and they both had to resurface.

Naruto got his feet under him first and as Sasuke broke the surface he was quick to sling an arm around Sasuke, dragging him backwards through the water so he couldn't gain purchase and fight back. It seemed like a sound plan to win the fight but having Sasuke's slick back pressed up against his chest, Sasuke's hand covering his own while his other hand gripped the base of Naruto's neck, vainly trying to gain some sort of purchase started to remind him of last night. Sasuke's fingers splayed across the side of his neck, his thumb coaxing his mouth open, his tongue…

Naruto stopped quite suddenly, allowing Sasuke to get his feet under him but stupidly hadn't released the arm around his waist meaning that when Sasuke managed to stand again he unintentionally grazed Naruto's groin with his ass. Naruto let go of him very quickly then. Sasuke still hadn't moved though and weirdly he actually seemed to be laughing a little. Not a lot but it was laughter all the same.

Normally this would be a happy moment for Naruto. Sasuke actually seemed for one of the rare times in his life to be acting like he was happy and not in the least like the sullen unplayful prick that he usually was. But the happy emotion refused to come because Naruto was confused and annoyed at himself again.

He took a sharp step backward away from Sasuke and lowered himself in the water so he could swim away from Sasuke and the memories of what had happened.

Sasuke seemed to realise after a moment that he had been abandoned and swam after him, actually still smiling a fraction. Until of course he realised Naruto wasn't and the expression dropped from his face.

"You know you clearly won," Sasuke told him with an irritated frown. "I expected more gloating than that."

Damnit,why did Sasuke choose this moment to start acting like a normal happy human being? He was smiling and laughing and even more bizarre, actually admitting defeat in their play fight.

"Ha, ha, you lost?" Naruto tried.

"Tch, you even suck at gloating. Is there anything you are actually good at?"

"Fighting you. I've had a lot of practise."

Either Sasuke didn't appreciate the comment or he started to realise something was still bothering Naruto because he stopped following him and looked at him with a serious expression.

"You don't always win," Sasuke reminded him. "You lost the last big fight."

"I would have killed you if I had been able to actually do it," Naruto told him truthfully. "You know I held back."

"You're too soft. And you give yourself too much credit. You wouldn't have won anyway."

"Don't be so sure. But anyway, you didn't kill me, Konoha is still intact and so maybe you went a little soft too."

Sasuke scowled at him. "You really want to have this conversation again? Because I remember last time I almost broke your jaw."

"Forget it," Naruto muttered dipping his head underwater as though the cool shock might clear the thoughts from his head.

He hadn't wanted to start a fight, he wasn't really angry at Sasuke. The problem was that he no longer knew what exactly he felt where Sasuke was concerned.

When he stood back up he found Sasuke standing closer, right in front of him actually, a dark expression on his face. "Why are you so moody all of a sudden?"

"Maybe you're rubbing off on me."

"I was in a good mood. Why aren't you? Where's that undying cheer now?"

"Why do I have to be cheerful?"

"Because that's how you are."

Naruto watched Sasuke right then with a rare insight. "You care that much if I'm a little grouchy?"

"It told you it's annoying when you don't act like yourself."

"I thought my whole personality used to bug you anyway."

"That's before I realised how much _more_ annoying you were when you weren't all cheerful optimism. You seem…frustrated."

"Sasuke look at where we are, of course I'm frustrated! Aren't you?"

"Not really. I told you why."

"Okay fine, you've got some breathing space for however long it takes to get back. But are you really willing to be stuck here with me for what could turn out to be months? You used to act like you couldn't stand the fact that I breathed and now I'm your choice travelling companion?"

"It makes sense to stick together, I told you this before. And sticking with you," Sasuke took a deep breath. "It's not quite the horror I would have imagined it would be. I don't like relying on people, I usually get disappointed. But you, well, I suppose I can rely on you. I always knew how you would react, even if I hated those reactions most of the time."

Naruto wasn't sure, but he thought he might have just been complimented. "You think I'm reliable?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Yes, dobe. If I couldn't trust you, I would have left your ass in that clearing where we first woke up."

Naruto took a moment to decide that, _that_ earned Sasuke a spontaneous hug whether the Uchiha wanted it or not. Moments ago he'd been trying to physically get away from Sasuke but all he wanted now was to feel him close. He rested his head against Sasuke's shoulder, lips against his neck.

"Thanks."

Sasuke arms were still by his side and his body had tensed up at the apparently sudden unwelcome show of emotion but he didn't exactly push him away either.

"Get off me you moron."

It wasn't really a command, more of a resigned suggestion offered even though he knew the suggestion would be ignored.

"Sasuke, do you hate me?" Naruto hated the sound of his own voice right then. The question sounded childish and insecure. But it was something he'd wanted to know ever since Sasuke had left the village when they had been younger. So really, it _was_ a child's question.

"Sometimes. Mostly you just annoy me."

"Do you care about me at all?"

This took a little longer for Sasuke to answer. "Not right now."

"Why not?" Naruto asked raising his head so he could see Sasuke's face.

"Because right now you're being a clingy little girl," he answered with a smirk.

Naruto grinned at him. "You're a jerk, you know that?"

"You keep saying that. So why are you hugging me?"

Naruto leant in, gave him the barest touch of lips against lips before releasing him and shrugging. "Maybe because I know it annoys you."

"Tch, idiot."

And just like that, things didn't seem so broken anymore.

TBC…in Part 8

* * *

_Notes: So I had to make four or five passes of this chapter again trying to temper Sasuke's friendly attitude but I think I managed to get a balance in there. Maybe. Of course their friendship seems to be progressing nicely now, but I plan on some tension in upcoming parts before we can get back to the sweetness again. Also I know I promised to ease up on Naruto's innocence a little and I did re-edit with that in mind as well, but there were a few moments in there I didn't want to cut and didn't feel entirely comfortable re-wording because it led into important moments. But hopefully it's not too bad. _

_So this Part 7 was mainly what I had been warning people about with Sasuke being a little too mellow. I ummed and ahhed so long about how much I should push it but in the end his little moments of happiness didn't seem too over the top for me except perhaps for the part where they are wrestling. But Sasuke being a normal happy person is still going to be pretty rare so I left it in there in the end to not only torment Naruto a little but it was kinda a fun thing to see in my mind. _

_So that was the last chapter for this part and now we will take another break for a little while. I am still hoping to get Part 8 out in April sometime despite wanting to start up WNL again soon. Part 8 is probably only going to be one chapter long though so it's not too much of an ask to get that one out this month._

_So Part 8 is going to be a dare where Naruto dares Sasuke to be something he isn't and Sasuke goes along with it in order to prove his own point to Naruto. I'm planning on easing back into having a little more tension between the two after this sudden change to the dynamic and though I am enjoying a more mellow Sasuke I am dying to get back to a few moments of Sasuke just being a dick again. And yay for me, Part 8 will have both sides of him. And plus we'll get to see how the drunken kissing affects their future interactions with each other and exactly what will be considered 'okay' after this latest instalment. _

_New preview for Part 8 will be up shortly on the Dashdom, you know the drill by now :)_

_Till then!_

_Dash._

_**Unsigned Reviews – I think I made a tiny mistake somewhere. I had assumed Alexandros (did I spell that right?) and Alex were the same person but now I am not so sure seeing as I got two reviews from 'Alex' this time. Sorry, totally my bad guys. I will answer them individually this time :)**_

_**Alex – **__You must have a sixth 'dash updated' sense lol. I can hardly complain about that *big grin*_

_It was pretty sudden but that was the booze, next time will be a little more thought about and a little less spontaneous. Though admittedly not much less lol. _

_**Alex – **__Well we certainly won't be jumping into the sex too quickly that's for sure despite the groping that happened last chapter. Of course sex isn't all they can do though *waggles eyebrows* Go the tension!_

_Thanks Alex and Happy Easter to you too!_

_**Guest – **__Haha, yeah I'm being a bit of a tease here lol. Well I'm leaving Sasuke's thoughts a little alone for now because I want to play with them more in Part 9 but hopefully it will be worth the wait :)_

_**Matti – **__Thanks! Yep the progression of the relationship will keep er, progressing from here on in. Though perhaps it won't happen quite so suddenly next time but hopefully that will be fun too :)_

_**Buffy – **__Wow, thank you so much Buffy! That is so nice of you to say! I'm very happy you are enjoying this fic and others. I am very pleased that you think the stories are worthy of a re-read as well, that's a huge compliment :) Certain stories can seem to make a lot more sense when you already know what's going to happen and I am glad you are enjoying that aspect because it makes all the fore-plotting so much more worthwhile. _

_Thanks again!_

_**Wanderer – **__You've hit on a point I was trying to draw from exactly here. In real life sometimes it is nicer to take things slower and get a better feel for the other person before taking things too far which is what I am trying to show here. Plus generally speaking I think that most of the time, that first relationship is a lot slower than the ones that come afterwards. You go from kissing, to light petting, to the exploration and through a few other steps before you get to the sex. So I'm sort of trying to go through those steps here as well though honesty I'm possibly not the best role model for the 'taking it slow' idea haha. _

_I always encourage people to make accounts. It's free and you get updates and you can keep track of your favourites too which is always good when you're in the mood for a re-read. Plus there are a few people I have conversations with after reviews that can be difficult to do here with unsigned stuff and that's a lot of fun too. But on that note I never mind responding to the unsigned reviews this way either *grins*_


	18. Dare to be Nice Ch1

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 8**

**Dare to be Nice**

**Chapter 1/1**

"Usuratonkachi!"

It was too early in the morning for this. He'd been awake for literally minutes before the day's tirade had begun and Naruto's will to not hit Sasuke was already being eroded.

He never thought the day would arrive when he'd actually miss Sasuke: the quiet introspective guy. But no matter how quietly cool a guy Sasuke could still be, as always the best way to make Sasuke talkative was to piss him off. Which was an easy thing to do.

Normally Naruto didn't care. Or rather he was used to Sasuke being pissed off so unless the resulting tirade got a little too personal, Naruto would just shrug it off as being just one of those moments. But lately the random jump into immediate anger was testing his nerves. Mainly he put it down to the fact that they had spent over a month together now and neither of them was used to constant company to say the least. Sasuke was a loner by nature and Naruto, even though he had many friends back home, had lived on his own for as long as he could remember and wasn't used to dealing with another person so constantly.

And Naruto figured he personally was an easy enough person to get along with. Okay so Sasuke said he was too talkative and a moron among many other things but he wasn't mean and fairly easy going as far as Naruto could see. Sasuke on the other hand was irritable and often moody. It wasn't unusual for Sasuke to be almost smiling one moment and yelling the next depending on whatever random mood flux Naruto could inadvertently bring out of him with the most innocent of comments or actions.

Of course since the night of the festival things had become a little tenser between them as well. Despite feeling as though things had been worked out between them at the time, Naruto could still feel a tension between them he hadn't felt before. He had tried so hard to move on from the incident as Sasuke had suggested he do, but attempting to do so made him _think_ about it. That usually made him a little annoyed for some reason he still hadn't really worked out and therefore it put a strain on their relationship with each other. And he knew Sasuke felt it too because unlike Naruto, Sasuke didn't temper his reactions to things when he was annoyed. Sasuke instead seemed to prefer to vent and that usually meant having quite a lot of huge heated arguments. And lately it was becoming an almost daily routine.

Today it seemed as though Sasuke's current ire was because after a meal of the yellow/purple fruit last night, Naruto had neglected to wrap the fruit up again and ants had gotten in and ruined most of their supply.

Naruto rubbed at his still sleep bleary eyes after pulling on his shirt and tried to focus on the ants crawling all over the fruit in Sasuke's hand. He had been out training on his own last night while Sasuke had been sleeping and because of the ensuing headache he always seemed to get afterwards, he had found it difficult to get to sleep in the last few hours before sunrise.

"Sorry Sasuke. The little buggers love that fruit don't they? Can't say I share their tastes."

Of all the things to get bent out of shape about Sasuke was flushed with anger over a couple of bits of fruit being spoiled. Talk about tense.

"This was all the food we had until the next town, moron!"

"Oh c'mon Sasuke. They grow on trees remember, it's not like we'll have to buy more."

"I haven't seen one of those fruit trees in days, have you?" Sasuke asked acidly.

"It's not the end of the world. I'm sorry I left it out, okay? But it's not like we'll starve, I'll fish tonight."

"That's not the point!"

Either Naruto's brain hadn't woken up properly yet or he was missing something here.

"It isn't?"

"No! You're a complete moron, that's the point. You don't _think_!"

So now that the personal taunts had started Naruto felt his own anger rise as well.

"So I screwed up, it's just fruit, don't be such an asshole!"

* * *

And so it continued from there and onwards through packing up and getting back onto the road again. It was some time later when Naruto figured Sasuke had to stop ranting or be hit.

"For fuck's sake teme, stop already!"

"Then stop doing stupid things and we'll get along better."

"We'd get along if you could just chill out for even a second."

"You think _I'm_ the hot-headed one?"

"Well, to me you are. To other people you're more of a distant jerk."

"I don't treat you any differently," Sasuke replied dismissively.

"You don't really yell at other people. When you get annoyed with them you're just quietly sarcastic. I bet you couldn't even go an entire day being nice to anyone."

Sasuke gave him a strange look in that moment. "Why the hell do you care how I treat people?"

"Because you're basically mean to everyone, including me."

Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I don't care. And I think you're mistaking indifference to actual meanness anyway."

"Well whatever. I still think it'd make your head explode if you actually had to be overly nice to everyone for a whole day. I bet you couldn't do it."

Even though the conversation had veered off into making personal jabs at Sasuke now, Sasuke actually didn't seem to be getting any angrier surprisingly. If anything he looked intrigued.

"What do I get if I win that bet?"

That stopped Naruto. "What?"

Sasuke stopped a few paces ahead and turned to face him, all evidence of anger gone from his features. Instead he was smirking at Naruto.

"I go a whole day being nice to people, what do I get in return?"

"There's no way you could do it," Naruto replied wide-eyed.

But that was another thing about Sasuke. Tell him he couldn't do something and he'd find great amusement in proving you wrong in the most smug, self-satisfied way imaginable.

"That's what you think. You don't know me that well. You think I can't be nice to get what I want?"

"I don't think you could be nice if your life depended on it. But okay, if you win I'll do all the hunting and foraging for a week. I'll also set up the camp every night and take care of getting water and cooking and stuff."

"I can see your faith in me is great," Sasuke replied sarcastically. "What do you want if _you_ win? Not that you will anyway."

Now it was Naruto's turn to grin. "Seeing you try to be nice to people will be worth it. Besides, I'll get to rub it in for ages."

"That's pretty tame."

"Well I hurt my shoulder again, you could fix it like last time."

"You hurt it again, how? Wait, never mind. You were probably doing something stupid. Fine."

Naruto ignored the jab. "And you'll have to work to win this. You've gotta be openly nice, small talk, everything with anyone we meet from now till this time tomorrow. And you have to be nice to me too. No yelling, no getting angry, no sarcasm, no arguments, nothing but a smile and kind words no matter what I do."

Somehow now Sasuke didn't look so certain. Naruto hadn't been joking before, Sasuke was generally unpleasant and uninterested in strangers but with Naruto lately he was unrestrained. Naruto realised there was just something in particular about him that could make Sasuke livid to the point of actual yelling these days and by the look on Sasuke's face, he realised this too.

"What's the problem?" Naruto taunted, "I thought you wanted to prove something."

"Fine. No matter what, I'll be nice."

Naruto's grin widened. "Never thought you'd be in for a dare," he told Sasuke. "Figured the stick up your ass never let you have any fun."

Sasuke still looked a little unhappy. "I'm not doing this for fun. If I can prove to you that people can act differently with enough willpower I'm hoping you might learn to think intelligently in the future."

The jab cost Naruto a little of the warmth from his smile but he kept it in place anyhow.

"I hope you got something out of your system just then cause you have to be 'nice Sasuke', starting now."

"Watch and learn, dobe."

* * *

As the day wore on Naruto was quite impressed by Sasuke's determination. And sure, Sasuke was probably the most determined person he'd ever met but there were just certain things not even Sasuke could usually do and that was being something he was naturally not. But apparently Sasuke was also _very_ determined to prove him wrong.

During the first part of the day, the changes had been minimal. Naruto had still been the one to do most of the talking as they walked but Sasuke being quiet wasn't exactly him being mean and for once Naruto got the impression that Sasuke was actually listening to him. Usually Sasuke would only listen with half and ear which seemed to allow him to either tune Naruto out completely or join in if Naruto said something Sasuke actually had an opinion about. It was almost like he'd trained his brain to listen for keywords in the conversation which would grab his attention when necessary but not actively listen to anything else. It had been an impressive though slightly insulting talent he'd cultivated over the past month.

But now Sasuke seemed to be listening to _everything_. Naruto could tell because there was a subtle change in Sasuke's demeanour from when he was actually listening to someone else and not lost in his own head. Plus he joined in a little more often too. Not greatly, but there was a difference.

And of course the added bonus of the bet was that when he joined in his comments and observations weren't punctuated by sarcasm or derision either. He wasn't over the top nice though, but his responses for the most part were pleasant enough and even had the occasional smile hidden in there that it was enough to distract Naruto sometimes to completely lose his train of thought. He had seen Sasuke smile more recently than ever, but it was shocking to see the expression this many times in one day.

But the fun didn't really begin until they met the occasional traveller along the road. To get the full experience and amusement out the situation, Naruto insisted that Sasuke be the one to stop and talk to the strangers about the local landscape, usually a job that fell to Naruto.

As a rule, Sasuke hated strangers. Well he hated everyone, but people he didn't know put him on edge especially. And it wasn't just because he thought these people might be a threat, it was simply because he didn't want to have to deal with them at all. For Sasuke, such interactions seemed tedious and wholly annoying but Naruto figured that the more Sasuke got used to dealing with people, the better off he might be. And what better time to do it than when he couldn't be such an asshole to them. Finally he might actually have a friendly conversation with someone!

The first traveller they met was a cart load of people heading down the road in the direction they were themselves travelling in. There were about a dozen people in all and more than half of them were women. In fact Naruto got the feeling as they walked closer that he had seen these people before. But it wasn't until the cart had stopped on the road to allow the pair of them to come up and talk that Naruto understood why. He'd been pretty drunk at the festival but the dancers had certainly made an impression. Naruto watched Sasuke's face closely as recognition hit him as well but masterfully managed to hide his annoyance and offer what passed for Sasuke as a warm smile.

Naruto realised that Sasuke could look quite charming when he smiled. He was handsome enough to begin with but an actual smile gave an added warmth his features normally lacked. It was just a pity that the warmth didn't quite reach his eyes to make it completely believable for Naruto. But the ladies practically leaning over the side of the cart to greet the both of them didn't seem to notice one little bit. All they saw was handsome Sasuke and that smile of his and seemed too flattered by the attention to see what Naruto saw in Sasuke's eyes. And what Naruto saw was barely controlled violence.

Thankfully Naruto also knew Sasuke was way more determined to prove his point that such internal thoughts and feelings would never actually surface.

"Hi handsome! Need a lift?" A particularly pretty blond asked with a wicked grin.

"Tempting," Sasuke replied, again with that smile while Naruto internally rolled his eyes and called Sasuke a liar. "But it looks cramped enough for you ladies. I wouldn't want to make it even more uncomfortable for you."

"Oh I'm sure we could make room for you two," the girl continued with a wink.

"I'd be happy to sit on that one's lap," another redhead said to her companion in what was probably meant to be a quiet tone.

"Sorry about that lot," the driver spoke up with a withering look toward the girls in the cart behind him. "They get bored on the road."

"It's just nice to meet such… welcoming people," Sasuke replied carefully but pleasantly. "I was just wondering if you knew of a town up ahead?"

"A few," the man replied. "If you follow this road up for another six or so days you'll come across a medium sized town. We're heading up this road another day and striking inland though. Another town, another festival. That town's a lot closer, maybe three more days if you're walking but it's smaller, just a little village."

"Thank you for the information," Sasuke replied. "We appreciate it."

"No problem," the man replied before flicking the reins and getting the horses moving once more.

"Aw no."

"No way!"

"Come ride with us," was the general consensus of the back of the cart but the pair of them just stood back and waved as the cart proceeded them up the road.

When the cart was obscured in dust, Naruto turned his head and grinned at Sasuke.

"Well they were interesting," he prodded.

Sasuke wasn't exactly scowling but Naruto got the strong impression that Sasuke really wanted to.

"Interesting is certainly one word I would use," Sasuke agreed with forced joviality.

"Lively?" Naruto offered enjoying Sasuke's torment.

"Certainly."

"Persistent?"

"Friendly," Sasuke corrected.

Naruto watched Sasuke remain impassive for a few moments longer, those dark eyes apparently refusing to meet his before he snorted in amusement.

"Liar," he accused.

Now Sasuke did look at him and while he was smirking, it wasn't a particularly mean expression. It was pretty smug though.

"Nice," Sasuke corrected once again.

"Uh huh, sure."

* * *

They met only one more person on their travels and while they didn't need more information at this point, Naruto still made Sasuke stop and talk to the guy in the interests of getting the most of out the bet. Unfortunately this particular man was gruff and rude to the point that even Naruto wanted to be rude right back but admirably, Sasuke kept his cool and remained pleasant in the face of rudeness and the pair were soon on their way again.

The last traveller might have had the most hope for Sasuke to lose his cool but Naruto had actually been hoping to meet regular pleasant folk along the way in the hopes of proving to Sasuke what a little niceness could accomplish. But unfortunately neither party had been what Naruto had hoped for. And yeah, the first group was good in a funny way but he had wanted to show Sasuke that not every stranger was a waste of his time. However the girls had been provocative, more so probably because of Sasuke's pretend pleasantness. The last man had been rude to the point that even Naruto had wanted to hit him and Sasuke would probably see nothing but wasted effort and revert back to his old self the moment the dare was over without learning anything.

But of course, this might not be such a bad thing either.

Naruto had never thought his dare might backfire on him so much. Sure at first he had enjoyed watching Sasuke smile pleasantly at strangers and talk to them while Naruto knew internally Sasuke was probably plotting theirs or Naruto's murder. Even with their first few interactions, Naruto had gotten enjoyment as Sasuke tried his best to remain calm and friendly in the face of Naruto trying his best to make Sasuke snap. But Sasuke was stubborn and as he'd learnt from their stint at Morio's, not a bad actor either. And as Sasuke got more into his new role Naruto could almost believe that nice Sasuke was genuine and actually liked him.

Pity he knew the truth. And that was more depressing than he cared to admit.

Okay so it wasn't like he preferred Sasuke as some kind of smiling beam of sunshine, that was actually a little creepy. But the most basic nice gesture, the smiles and the laughing made him a little sad that Sasuke couldn't be like this more often of his own free will.

He often admired Sasuke just as he was, driven, proud and strong. Even the less pleasant quirks to his personality had an engaging uniqueness to it that Naruto didn't always hate. But he'd be lying if he didn't admit to wanting a few moments of a nicer Sasuke too. One that didn't seem irritated beyond reason by every small thing he did that Sasuke didn't like. Someone that could enjoy a joke, commiserate with him during a stressful time or even smile a genuine smile when he was actually happy a little more often.

By the time the camp was set up that night something of Naruto's melancholy must have been showing on his face because Sasuke was giving him something of a concerned look. Knowing that the concern was faked only made things worse.

"You don't look like you're having fun," Sasuke commented later as they sat beside the fire he had built to cook Naruto's earlier catch at the river.

Sasuke couldn't say it, but Naruto was betting he was pleased by the thought that Naruto might be thinking that he was going to lose the bet. Well Naruto wasn't so worried about that. Despite his mood he had a few tricks up his sleeve he figured would assure him victory yet.

"I'm not the one who has to look happy all the time," Naruto reminded him. "Besides, you don't actually care."

"Of course I do," Sasuke responded in a way too passable impression of caring.

Honestly it wasn't so fun right now.

He tried not to glare at Sasuke for the pure reason that if he did Sasuke would know just how much his 'niceness' was annoying Naruto right now.

"You know, being nice doesn't mean you have to lie teme," Naruto reminded him. "It just means you can't be jerk."

Sasuke just watched him with a corner of his mouth tipped up and Naruto knew what Sasuke wanted to say without Sasuke having to voice the words. Basically Sasuke telling the truth at this point _would_ be him being a jerk. He'd just have to wait till later to have a proper conversation with Sasuke where Sasuke could respond how he wanted. It certainly made him realise how much he missed the part of Sasuke who'd generally just tell him the truth whether he wanted to hear it or not. Not that Sasuke was an open person with the truth, but if he wanted to answer a question at least he wouldn't lie just to make Naruto feel better about it.

Oh well, perhaps it was past time to break Sasuke now. He was confident in victory because even though Sasuke was probably the most determined person he'd ever met, Naruto knew just how to get under his skin. Besides, he'd now had over a month of learning first hand just how to piss Sasuke off and a pissed off Sasuke could never remain calm.

Naruto crawled over to him and was pleased when Sasuke watched him warily. It wasn't a particularly happy look and Naruto smiled at the discomfort. Sasuke, obviously realising he wasn't being very nice, cleared his expression to something approaching pleasant. It looked like a strain though.

"I'm impressed," Naruto told him, stopping to kneel in front of Sasuke still with his smile in place.

He could almost hear the unsaid scathing reply but Sasuke refused to be baited apparently.

"Thanks."

So Naruto ducked forwards, intending to give Sasuke his usual thank you cheek kiss but for some reason he didn't end up aiming for Sasuke's cheek.

"What-?"

Before Sasuke could finish the sentence he was silenced by an almost unintentional lip lock. Naruto had only meant to kiss his cheek and spent a few surprised moments frozen in place while his brain tried to catch up with what he had done and why. But by then Sasuke's eyes had dropped closed and his lips were moving against Naruto's and Naruto stopped thinking entirely.

This hadn't really been intentional, his plan had been to give Sasuke one of those cheek kisses he hated just to get a rise out of him. But something had just come over him and now that it had become something more, he was leaning into Sasuke, his hand moving up to cup the back of Sasuke's skull in order to drag their faces even closer together like he no longer had control of his own movements. And Sasuke was letting him. In fact Sasuke had been the one to turn a moment of shock into a proper kiss and now they were…

_ Sasuke kissed me instead of turning away and saying something mean. But then Sasuke isn't allowed to do anything mean at the moment, is he?_

Naruto drew away and watched as black, slightly glazed eyes opened and returned the gaze.

"You just did that because you're acting, didn't you?"

Sasuke seemed to think his reply over for way too long.

"I don't know what you mean."

He was lying, Naruto knew. Sasuke knew exactly what Naruto meant and his refusal to acknowledge it only made Naruto believe that was exactly what had happened.

"Godsdamnit," Naruto muttered pushing himself away from Sasuke.

Unexpectedly Sasuke grabbed his wrist and pulled Naruto forward and to the side making Naruto lose his balance and fall into the grass. He rolled onto his back just in time for Sasuke to throw a leg over his midsection, sit on him, lean forward and quick as a striking snake, plant their lips together once more.

Naruto refused to kiss him back, actually he was getting pretty annoyed by this game. Whatever he had planned it was definitely backfiring again and now Sasuke was using it to his advantage, doing this just to get back at him under the guise of it being the 'nice' thing to do.

But his refusal to cooperate didn't go unnoticed and eventually Sasuke sat back with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Too nice?"

Naruto bit his own lip hard to prevent himself from hitting Sasuke.

"Fine I get it, you're getting me back, you can stop now."

"You don't like 'nice' anymore?" Sasuke asked with a knowing smirk.

"You did that on purpose you jerk! I was only going to kiss your cheek cause I know that makes you all annoyed."

"It does not," Sasuke replied dismissively.

"Yes it…wait, did you just argue with me?"

Sasuke looked shocked at first and then he scowled and shut his mouth. But Naruto knew he had him. Well perhaps his plan hadn't been so bad after all.

"You argued with me! Sasuke, that's not being very nice."

Sasuke looked on the verge of disputing it but then must have realised that further argument wasn't going to win him any points.

"Fuck you."

Naruto grinned widely and sat up swiftly causing Sasuke to slip back into his lap with a surprised grunt but Naruto was too high on victory to notice except to reach an arm around Sasuke instinctively to prevent him from falling off.

"I won!" Naruto exclaimed elated. "I _knew_ you couldn't go an entire day being nice, it's just not in your nature."

"Well I'm glad you got your kicks out of it," Sasuke griped trying and failing to stand while Naruto had a hold of him. "Personally I'm about ready to kill just about everyone we met today in the most violent way imaginable. Would you just fucking let me go already?!"

"Admit that I won," Naruto urged him.

"Bite me, dobe."

"Teme!"

Sasuke sighed and quit struggling. Naruto had him at a definite disadvantage in his precarious position.

"Fine, you won. Now let me go before I exact my frustrations on you instead."

Sasuke looked so comically pissed off that Naruto smiled almost fondly at the expression. He didn't realise but he'd been waiting all day to see a look like this one. Sasuke pretending to be something he wasn't, something other than himself had annoyed him far more than Sasuke just simply being his irate self as it turned out.

And before he knew what he was doing he was leaning forward as though he would kiss him again. But when he realised what he was doing and the further fact that Sasuke had stilled completely and was watching him expectantly made Naruto stop and release Sasuke all in one go.

Sasuke hesitated momentarily before getting to his feet and 'accidentally on purpose' almost casually laying a foot into Naruto's side as he stepped over him.

"Fuck Sasuke, ow!"

Sasuke looked back at him with a smirk. "Sorry," he said insincerely, "I guess that wasn't very nice."

* * *

They didn't talk for the rest of the evening until their dinner of fresh caught fish had been consumed and the two went down to the river for the nightly bathing ritual.

But Sasuke could feel eyes on him the entire time and he didn't like the feeling at all. He had thought Naruto might spend more time gloating. And honestly he would have preferred it over the uncomfortable silence. Eventually Sasuke got sick of not hearing the question he could tell Naruto was burning to ask and half way through bathing Sasuke snapped.

"What?!" he barked.

"Why were you doing that?"

"I was punishing you," Sasuke replied simply.

Naruto frowned. "So since when is kissing me supposed to be a punishment?"

Sasuke gave him a look as though the answer to that should be obvious. But apparently Naruto wasn't getting it.

"Isn't it? It made you weird and moody before."

"Yeah but not because I'm all horrified or whatever. It's just well, sort of confusing."

"Confusing?"

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not suggesting anything. I'm comfortable with the touching. Well more than you are anyway. You're acting like you're all okay after the festival thing but I know you aren't, you're just doing it now to punish me. But you're not going to be able to throw _me_ by doing that again, just so you know."

"So you don't care one way or the other?" Sasuke asked sceptically.

"No, why should I? I told you it's not as big a deal, not even now. I know you're only doing it to get me back for things because you think it will weird me out or get some kind of reaction because of me touching you or kissing your cheek. But it's not gonna work. Like I said, it's comfortable, like a hug or whatever. Nothing to get riled about."

So Naruto thought that Sasuke was only doing it because he wanted to weird him out. It wasn't entirely inaccurate. But more often than not it was simply not the case. Naruto had lulled him into a kind of comfort zone where, as he suggested, doing such a thing didn't seem like such a big deal. Actually it had become almost disturbingly easy. But there was a small part of him also that had just simply done it without thinking because he had wanted to. But apparently that weirded him out more than it did Naruto, which was a little annoying.

It might have been something in his competitive nature but he really wanted to make Naruto as unsettled as he was about this. Despite what he had said about moving past it, it had been more difficult a thing to do than he had thought it would be. He knew it was affecting the status quo between them and he hated the fact that it seemed to be mostly his inability to take his own advice which was mainly to blame. He really wanted Naruto to realise that stuff like that wasn't supposed to be familiar or so chilled despite what he'd said. He wanted Naruto to feel that same annoyance.

So without further ado he waded over to a surprised Naruto, hooked a hand around the back of his neck and drew him forcefully closer until the lips met. His other hand snaked it's way around Naruto's waist and drew their bodies together, and Sasuke felt warm naked skin against his, slicked by the water and whatever little soap remained on Naruto's skin.

The contact didn't feel repulsive in the least but he made himself focus on what he was supposed to be doing and delved his tongue into Naruto's mouth. He wasn't by any means very experienced with kissing and generally just did what instinct told him to do. But this was the first time he'd actively tried to make another person feel good this way. He licked against Naruto's tongue with his, played against it while moving his lips a little roughly against Naruto's. But when he felt Naruto's tentative touch against his side he stopped abruptly and took a step back, smirk in place ready to see Naruto's gob-smacked expression.

Just like everything else he knew he'd be good at this though this was perhaps the first time he'd ever thought to prove it. But his smugness was a little short lived when he saw that Naruto looked less annoyed and more, well, honestly he looked completely and utterly blown away. He was still standing there with his eyes closed, his lips still slightly parted and wet, even his hand was still raised as though to touch him. It lasted a few seconds only but Sasuke felt a little shocked by Naruto's expression himself. But as soon as Naruto seemed to realise Sasuke had abandoned him his eyes flew wide open and his jaw dropped.

Now _this_ expression was worth smirking at.

"Care to say that again?" Sasuke asked mildly. "I bet that didn't feel like a comfortable hug. I _told_ you that if it wasn't such a big deal you weren't doing it properly."

Naruto's mouth snapped closed and he glared. "Asshole."

Sasuke gave him one more half smile and turned, wading toward shore. As soon as his back was turned though he couldn't help a frown settling over his features.

He didn't like how easy it was to do that. He also didn't like how he'd reacted either. Naruto had looked so open afterwards, more vulnerable than he'd ever seen him and Sasuke couldn't deny that the look had almost compelled him to do it all again.

Just what the hell was wrong with him! Things like this shouldn't get under his skin. He'd never felt this kind of temptation before nor the urge to ever do such a thing even to prove a point. He'd wanted Naruto to get rattled by it, he hadn't meant to do it to himself.

And he didn't like that feeling one little bit.

"Sasuke wait!" he could hear Naruto crashing through the river after him but he didn't turn around or stop until Naruto grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face him. Naruto still looked a little flushed which wasn't helping.

"I thought you said stuff like that wasn't okay."

"No, I told you that I would tell you what wasn't okay."

_Now_ Naruto looked slightly annoyed. "So what, it's okay so long as you are alright with it but not me?"

It hadn't honestly occurred to Sasuke that what he had just done wouldn't be acceptable to Naruto. Well he had never really complained before that was true enough but the more he thought about it the more he realised that while Naruto had instigated the kisses sometimes, he'd almost never been the one to push it past a simple kiss to something a little more physical. Perhaps Naruto really wasn't okay with it and that was why he often became moody and sullen afterwards.

"I won't do it again," Sasuke said bluntly, turning away once more. His voice had sounded more annoyed than he'd intended.

Naruto dragged him around again, "I didn't mean you had to stop!"

Now Sasuke was thoroughly confused. As if all of this wasn't confusing enough Naruto had to make it worse. His confusion must have shown on his face because Naruto seemed trying to figure out how to explain but was obviously having difficulty finding the words.

"This has all gotten a bit weird," Naruto confessed. "I mean it's okay if you want to do that. I just don't get _why._"

Well, Sasuke didn't really know either. He did it because it felt nice, comfortable and easy. But admitting that sounded like a bad move. But then again, he wasn't the only one who did weird things out of curiosity.

"Why do you?"

Naruto looked slightly taken aback by the question.

"I asked first."

"And I am answering. Why do you hug me or kiss my cheek?"

Naruto frowned slightly. "To say thank you or-"

"But why does it feel okay to you?" Sasuke interrupted.

"I don't know, it just does."

"Try again."

"I don't really know!" Naruto shot back in obvious irritation. "The amount of shit I've gone through with you and because of you makes me feel closer to you than anyone else even after being separated for so long. But don't get the wrong idea I'm not like those girls, I'm not all in love with you or whatever, I don't mean 'close' like that."

Surprisingly, Sasuke actually felt a small smile tug at the corner of his mouth at the admission. At least they were more or less on the same page and that's all he'd really wanted to know. That and one more thing…

"So the fact that this closeness seems to make you at least a little aroused doesn't factor in at all?" he asked perhaps a shade smugly.

The redness returned a little at the reminder but Naruto didn't look away from him either.

"I didn't say it doesn't feel bad," Naruto admitted carefully.

Well he had his answer. He wasn't alone with what he felt and that made him feel a lot better than the attempt to kiss the breath out of his companion a moment ago. It was a relief to know he wasn't being the strange one here by feeling something purely physical because Naruto had pretty much just admitted to everything he was feeling too.

"Then you have your answer," Sasuke told him simply.

This time when he turned to walk away Naruto's loose grip didn't impede him at all. Actually Naruto looked too shocked to do anything but stand there and stare wide-eyed for the next few minutes at least.

TBC in Part 9

* * *

_Notes: Yeah I know, that was pretty rushed. I blame deadlines, I really should stop giving them to myself *sigh* but oh well, it was only meant to be a little one chapter thing that turned into a long one chapter thing to ready us for Part 9. Honestly though I had really wanted to play with that dare so much more than I ended up doing. But at the same time I didn't want it to get too tedious either. The dare was really only meant to show the after effects of the festival, the bitching and the conclusions. So I guess it worked in that respect. _

_ So Part 9 is going to follow on from the questions raised at the end of this part, namely the physical closeness thing. A few of you already knew I was going to devote an entire part to their 'frustrations' and that will be Part 9. _

_ I'm not even going to hazard a guess as to when Part 9 will be coming out since I'm hoping to post new WNL chapters during May. My wish is that I can post the two more or less simultaneously but I'll see how I go._

_ I more or less have my Tumblr account up and running now for those interested in previews and stuff and you can find me at: dashellz dot tumblr dot com if you are interested. It's still pretty new though and doesn't have a lot of stuff up as of yet but I'm hoping to have previews of WNL and Part 9 up soon._

_ Till next time,_

_ Dash._

_**Unsigned Reviews: **_

_**Guest – **__Thanks! I wanted to take it a little slower to give them that strong basis exactly. I think it will work well in the future of the fic. I haven't had a lot of possessive and protective Sasuke just yet but there are plans ;)_

_**Dazedeyes – **__Thank you very much. I do worry that after taking it slow for so long I'm pacing the development a little too fast now, but I'm hoping the wait and lead up have been enough for now. Well now that they are at the kissing stage anyway lol. Anyway, I hope you liked the update!_

_**Alex – **__Sorry Alex, one of these days I'll get the name right I promise *looks sheepish* I'm sorry to hear your Easter wasn't very good :( Hopefully since Easter you are feeling a lot better. _

_Very happy and big grins you enjoyed the last update, I hope you like this one too :)_

_**Wanderer – **__Just as you say, I'm hoping that eventually there will be a distinct difference between Sasuke alone with Naruto and public Sasuke because it will be nice to see him being a little more open when they are alone than among strangers. It's not real obvious at the moment but he is definitely starting to warm up. And again, totally, how he acts will certainly reflect on how Naruto is acting at different times. You're right there, I was able to force him to be a little more open because Naruto had drawn away and I plan to use this in the future as well. Haha, yeah and if I can possibly get away with Sasuke using body language rather than actual speech I do try and use it :) Thanks Wanderer!_

_**Nemesis Jedi – **__I know right? WTF? *shakes head* Sasuke the good guy… I was half hoping for the epic fight but more than a little curious about them meeting again now. Damn Kishi, making me wait…_

_Yeah, I'm still biting my lip over that idea haha. But I think you'll get a real kick out of it when we get to that point. Won't be for a little while yet though. As for the chakra… well… do you really want me to spoil that? Let's just say there will be __**some**__ progression on that front… in a way. I'm hoping that was sort of vague enough lol. _

_Well it seems after this update that perhaps not all was as cool in Sasuke's world as Sasuke would have everyone think. It was bugging him and I don't think it's really done bugging him just yet. It might just begin to bug him in other ways ;)_

_Well kissing doesn't seem to be too much of an issue now that they have things a little more sorted. But as you say this is only the beginning…_

_**Piggy7869 – **__Well I did miss your reviews I will admit. I really do love reading them and our conversations are so much fun but I can totally understand real life impeding on reading time so it's all good :) I admit to being overjoyed to see you back though *big smile*_

_Glad the flow doesn't seem too plodding because I do worry about that sometimes. Though perhaps chapter 18 was a little too quick but I could just be being picky at myself lol._

_Haha, yeah I think most people were waiting for that scene. It's weird, I let things slip for what's upcoming and it's interesting to see which parts get the most interest from people. I think the brothel was the first one, then to a lesser degree the loincloths then the drunk scene. Though admittedly I did mention these scenes as a bit of a tease. I think next it will be the Sasuke getting high chapter. Oh did I mention that one? *evil grin* I think it's around Part 12 at the moment. _

_I gotta admit it is a little more interesting that touches are more intended now even though it is all still a bit confusing for them both. But I'm hoping they'll get over a lot of that after Part 9. I'm looking forward to getting to a point where they can be a lot more free with each other not only in the physical but with Sasuke being a tad more open more often as well. I think the whole tone will get a bit lighter after that but there is probably still a long ways to go yet._

_I really enjoyed Part 7 for just about all the reasons you gave as well. The changes in their relationship became more obvious and their comfort with each other really came through more than anything previous. And as you said, for that to happen I did think we needed a few moments of a softer Sasuke. For this last chapter I did bring a little bit of 'dick' Sasuke back but then reigned it in a little more at the end to lead into upcoming stuff. Though I suppose that even though his intentions were to settle things between them he did do it just to make himself feel better so perhaps he was still just being a dick lol._

_Well this part was less about the journey as well and Part 9 will be even less so. I won't probably get back to some plot outside the relationship till Part 10 or so, but don't hold me to that. As for carnal desires… I'm honestly not sure how to answer that. One because it probably would be a bit of a spoiler and two because them being 'intimate' with each other will not at first mean that they will have sex. Yep, weird but true. If it's actual sex you're asking about, well there will be a bit of a wait. At least a half dozen parts if not more. It's not much a spoiler because I add and discard part ideas all the time so it's really only a rough estimate. But as for the next progression into the physical… that will happen very soon indeed ;) Of course I won't spoil by saying exactly how but there will be moaning involved *big grin*_

_**Yu-chan – **__Oh I feels the love Yu-chan :)_

_Oh no! No internet would make Dash go crazy so I really feel for you. You can have extra hugs._

_I love booze too. But I love teasing even more which is why the scene was cut so short. I couldn't help myself honest!_

_I've had another note about Naruto's perceptiveness and decided to tone it down a bit actually. There was a chunk of Naruto introspection I had written for this chapter that got cut in those interests. I like the idea that he is showing more intelligence but I also want him to not be working things out so easily either if that makes sense._

_Haha, yeah I think Naruto has had a double dose of Sasuke being human between this chapter and the last. But Sasuke is really starting to blur the lines of okay isn't he? _

_Thanks and much love right back at you! _


	19. Frustrated Ch1

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 9**

**Frustrated**

**Chapter 1/3**

Hopefully they would near a town soon. They had been walking for over a week without sight nor sound of civilised life and predicably this was having a big effect on both of them.

Sasuke needed his comforts every now and then as Naruto had previously noticed. Every so often he liked warm water and a proper bed and got grouchy and irritable when he went too long without. For Naruto who had no qualms sleeping comfortably even on a bed of stone this was not such an issue. But something else was becoming a slight issue instead.

It was embarrassing to admit, but he was a healthy teen now fairly minimally stressed by circumstances and admittedly slightly frustrated by previous close calls with a person that would remain a nameless jerk.

Bluntly, he needed some private time to get something out of his system. And in a world now where there were no doors to lock it was either sneak away and run the risk of Sasuke coming to look for him or just plainly admit that he wanted to be left alone for a while.

So that night when they were setting up camp Naruto took a deep breath and announced he was going to the river to bathe.

"Okay, I'll come too."

If he wasn't morbidly embarrassed to begin with Naruto might have laughed at Sasuke's unknowingly unfortunate wording.

"Um, no that's okay. I know you were hungry so you should eat something first."

"I'm not that hungry," Sasuke told him pulling his shirt off and hunting around in his bag, probably for the soap.

"I want to be alone," Naruto blurted.

Sasuke stood back up and frowned at him. "You follow me around like an unrelenting cheerful shadow. Are you really implying that you're the one getting sick of _me_?"

"No of course not. I thought you'd jump at the chance to get rid of me for a while."

Strangely this simple statement seemed to stump Sasuke for a while. Could it be that Sasuke actually _wanted_ to spend time with him?

Over the past few weeks Naruto had seen a slow change in Sasuke from being an abrasive morose prick into…well he was still an abrasive morose prick most of the time but now added on to that was the occasional joke, smile or even laugh that he hadn't previously thought Sasuke capable of. He figured it was just the relief for Sasuke to finally be in a position to not constantly torment himself with revenge or his past quite so much but it was also possible that perhaps Naruto was having a positive effect on him as well. Trapped together like this for so long constantly in each other's company and Sasuke either had to loosen up or kill him he supposed.

But whatever had bought on the change, the idea that Sasuke might actually want to spend time with him outweighed personal needs in a heartbeat. It wasn't like he was going to shrug off a positive change to their relationship just for a few minutes of happy time.

"But if you aren't that eager, you're welcome to come with," Naruto finished.

"I wouldn't want to force myself on you," Sasuke said acidly.

"Well that would solve both problems," Naruto muttered to himself before realising what he'd said.

"What did you say? And why have you gone red?"

"No reason," Naruto said brightly getting to his feet. "You coming or what?"

* * *

They stayed in the river like they usually did after bathing, just relaxing and unwinding. In fact they were both floating on their backs looking up at the stars all peaceful like until Sasuke said something that made Naruto falter and swallow some water.

"I'm interrupting your 'private' time, aren't I?"

So after Naruto had regained his feet and coughed up half the river he managed a, "What?"

"I just worked it out. You could have just said so."

"I wasn't, I didn't mean…"

"Want me to leave?"

"No!"

"You surely don't want me to watch?"

Naruto reached out and pushed Sasuke under the water.

Sasuke must have expected the reaction because he didn't come up coughing. He was giving Naruto a jerky little half smile.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then."

"Hilarious Sasuke," Naruto muttered wading back toward the bank. He sat in the shallows and stretched his legs out.

"Frustrated?" Sasuke asked joining him.

"A little," he admitted wondering how the fuck it suddenly became okay to be talking about this with Sasuke of all people. "You know it's partially your fault."

"How?"

He regretted bringing it up now. The kissing incidents hadn't been talked about again and Sasuke seemed to prefer it that way. But it had made it worse because he had never been in such a situation with anyone ever and even if they were weird moments in time with another guy, it still made him think of other things.

So instead of bringing it up, Naruto chose to lie.

"Since joining with you you've managed to talk me into pretending to whore myself out twice now. Seeing all those people at the party, makes you, ah, think about it. Didn't it affect you at all?"

"Not really."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I forget sometimes that you spent most of your teenage years in a cave somewhere."

"Doesn't make me impervious to base urges. It just means I have more control than you. Sometimes."

Luckily Sasuke had added the last part or Naruto was definitely going to bring up the kissing incidents just to prove him wrong.

"Well whatever. Some of us are human and humans have needs. Not that I expect you to understand."

Sasuke turned to him. "I'm more human than you are," he told Naruto with a significant look.

Naruto ignored the look. "Hard to tell since most of the time you act like such an alien."

"So what, would it make you feel better if I started feeling myself up right now?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.

"No!" Naruto exclaimed trying very hard not to let _that_ mental picture form. "Just admitting you have the urge is fine."

It took a few moments where Sasuke stared off over the river before he replied, "Alright, I admit it."

Naruto sighed and laid back. "Maybe I should go out and meet a girl. Can't be too hard."

"What? The sex or the actual picking up a girl?"

"I didn't mean it like that! But uh, I guess both. If it comes to that."

"And here I thought you were saving yourself for a special moment," Sasuke mocked him.

"Beats hiding out in the jungle somewhere knowing that you know where I've gone and why."

"I don't think having sex once is going to cure you of the need for that," Sasuke told him. "And who cares if I know? Would you care if I did the same thing?"

Naruto tried to picture sitting back at camp on his own while Sasuke disappeared. Knowing what he was doing, picturing it and…that's when he sat up very quickly.

_What the fuck?_

So he'd admitted to himself that the other night's drunken weirdness had affected him. He admitted that doing that with Sasuke in particular had affected him as well. But now was he actually maybe getting a little turned on by merely picturing him as well? That suggested a little more than hormones, a little more than close bonding, it meant that he really was attracted to Sasuke.

And okay, Sasuke was hot. Previous to now he'd felt that he'd only thought that about Sasuke in an observational way. Like you can tell if a guy is attractive or not by looking but it didn't mean you were attracted to the person yourself. But obviously he hadn't been paying that much attention because there was more to it than that where Sasuke was concerned.

But then that hadn't been the question.

"Um, no, I guess not."

"Gee, that was convincing. Look, I'm going to leave you here for your alone time and go back to camp. The last thing I need is for you to become even more annoying by being frustrated."

Naruto wanted to call him back, tell him it wasn't necessary. It was embarrassing that Sasuke might know what he was doing out here. But he didn't. He let Sasuke go because now he really felt like he needed it after all. Now if only he could get that image of Sasuke to shift from his mind…

* * *

Sasuke walked the short distance back to camp with an odd feeling settling over him and he wasn't exactly sure what it was about. He just felt like something was a little _off. _

Perhaps he'd been too accepting of the whole 'private' time thing. Normally such a conversation would have been unthinkable to even voice let along give his rousing acceptance of. If such a thing had to be done, and Sasuke allowed that sometimes such things indeed had to be done, there was no way in hell he should want to know anything about it where Naruto was concerned.

He liked to think that he was just being mature about it. It was a fact of life, being disgusted about it was childish. But then that wasn't really his problem. He wasn't disgusted. In fact he'd been mildly intrigued that after the initial embarrassment, Naruto had been so open about it. Well Naruto being open wasn't the strangest thing in the world, but he wasn't immune to being embarrassed either. But that had only lasted a few seconds and then Naruto had opened up more.

And Naruto's conclusion? Get laid, apparently. Well he hadn't suggested exactly that, but he hadn't completely refuted it either when Sasuke had mentioned it.

The idea was ridiculous. Not that Naruto couldn't, but that he would. Naruto might be friendly even with strangers but being friendly was one thing, having sex with one was another thing. Naruto couldn't disconnect himself from his feelings, it was a trait that Sasuke often found increasingly annoying. But such a trait would never allow Naruto to have his first time with some stranger in some strange town he was likely to leave the next morning.

And then these thoughts bought up another troubling issue. If Sasuke felt Naruto was incapable of fooling around with strangers without having some kind of investment, what had been going on between them occasionally presented a weird kind of grey area. Well they'd only kissed of course so it wasn't really the same thing but Sasuke never got the impression from what Naruto had said that he was reacting to anything more than physical feelings.

So Sasuke was either the exception to the rule or he'd been reading Naruto completely wrong before now. He found that unlikely though. Naruto wasn't exactly a complicated enigma to him. And of course kissing someone was very different to having sex with them.

Sasuke had to roll his eyes that Naruto thought having sex would help him anyway. Even if Naruto could make himself have sex with a stranger it wouldn't give him any sort of long lasting relief and he hoped that Naruto at least took _that_ part of their conversation to heart. And he certainly didn't need Naruto getting attached to some outsider just because he'd finally managed to lose his virginity to them.

Not that Naruto would go through with it.

It was stupid to worry.

Not that he was really worried.

Except about the headache it might cause for him.

Because that was the only reason it would bug him.

Sasuke sat down heavily on his bedding and tried to find the moment when this stopped being an amusing poke at Naruto and started becoming even something to bother thinking about in any deeper sense. After all it wasn't like he cared apart from causing any more possible problems for them.

Which it probably wouldn't.

Because Naruto would never…

He tried to imagine it, imagine Naruto getting up the nerve to even kiss some stranger. The only problem was that when he closed his eyes to focus that stranger started to look incredibly like himself…

He tried like hell not to let his mind wander again but it was tough going for him. He told himself it was because he'd never seen Naruto kiss anyone before so his brain was just filling in the blanks with the only person he had known Naruto to kiss. Of course that didn't quite explain why he suddenly felt a little light headed, why his breath came out a little unsteadily, his belly tense or anything else just at the mere thought. But the more Sasuke's mind wandered, the more he ignored all those little things. It might have had something to do with a new direction his mind had taken.

He had told Naruto that he wouldn't care if Naruto took the time out to relieve his frustrations but that hadn't exactly been the truth. Oh he was all for Naruto taking the time to mellow a little but the knowledge of how he was going to achieve this was not something so easily shrugged off. Really it was pretty intimate knowledge to have, knowing what he was doing right now and Sasuke couldn't help but have those mental images start to overlap those of the kissing scenes already playing out in his head.

Therefore he almost jumped when he felt a hand slide down against his thigh. His breath caught and he stared down at the offending hand in shock.

It was his own hand.

Just what the hell was wrong with him?

He heard someone crashing through the bushes from the direction of the river and snatched his own hand away from himself so quickly he'd done it before thinking. He then proceeded to look as bored as he possibly could to hide whatever expression wanted to be on his face right now. Seconds later Naruto came back into camp proper and flopped face down onto his blankets.

"Feel better?" Sasuke asked as blandly as he could.

"Not particularly," Naruto muttered resolutely not looking at Sasuke.

Not that Sasuke really noticed, he was too busy trying not to look at Naruto either.

* * *

Naruto felt that he shouldn't feel embarrassed, that would be stupid. When he thought about it in a logical and rational way he realised they were both guys, they both had guy needs so Sasuke should realise that having alone time was a necessity, not perverted, it was just biology, right?

So why the fuck couldn't he just act like normal, like nothing had happened? And why was he spending the entire next day watching his feet as he walked, red faced and silent? Biology or not, understanding or not, he was embarrassed.

If it were any other guy they might understand. And even though Sasuke had seemed surprisingly cool about the whole incident Naruto couldn't help but feel that out of the two of them, he was the one being the deviant by needing his alone time when it seemed like Sasuke didn't.

Even after their talk, even after Sasuke had admitted to having the usual human urges, albeit slightly better controlled than Naruto, he himself hadn't once seemed to want to follow Naruto's lead, take some time to himself and relieve himself. Not once. Not even now apparently that it was all out in the open.

He might have joked to Sasuke about being an alien last night but he was seriously starting to wonder why Sasuke didn't need to go off and have his own private time. The idea was absurd. Every healthy guy needed alone time right?

It bugged him. It bugged him that it bugged him in the first place. But he couldn't help it.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sasuke watching him as they walked with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. It reminded him strongly of the day after the festival. Then Sasuke had been annoyed because Naruto hadn't been acting like himself, over-thinking things and generally being sullen. If he kept it up, doubtless Sasuke would get even more ticked off and he certainly didn't want to have to deal with that.

"You're red," Sasuke observed after a little while.

"Shut up."

Sasuke watched him for a few moments longer before suddenly smirking at him.

"You either got sunburnt yesterday or you've been blushing since last night."

"Godsdamnit Sasuke, just shut the fuck up!"

"It's almost sunset. After we make camp I could leave you alone for a few minutes if you need more private time."

It wasn't meant to be serious but being pissed with Sasuke usually bought up the want to take a swing at him. So he aimed a hard but playful punch at his friend only to have Sasuke duck underneath his arm and throw a foot out to trip him up. Not expecting the move, Naruto tumbled forward into the dirt. He rolled onto his back just as Sasuke squatted down next to him with his smirk still in place.

"Tense?" He asked almost innocently. The tone didn't work for Sasuke one bit.

Naruto didn't get up and just lay in the dirt and glared up at Sasuke. "I knew I shouldn't have admitted that to you. Sharing stuff with you is way more trouble than it's worth."

Sasuke's smile faltered a little at that and Naruto thought for a stupid moment that he might have inadvertently hurt Sasuke's feelings. But then he thought better when he realised how much Sasuke liked teasing him and how little regard Sasuke had for feelings in general.

But much to his surprise, Sasuke grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. The pair started walking again and Sasuke didn't utter another word.

* * *

He wasn't sure when it had happened but somewhere along the way it had become common practise for Naruto to be the one to rub shampoo through Sasuke's hair every few days or so. It didn't go both ways because for one thing Naruto was thorough enough with his own hair to not need assistance and for another because he didn't feel the need to do it as often. But since Sasuke seemed so crap at the task himself Naruto just tended to do it without thinking these days.

Tonight was no exception. Naruto was already in the river washing off when he just barely managed to catch the bottle thrown his way. Sasuke waded in, dunked his head underwater and turned his back to Naruto like always. Naruto was halfway through the bizarre ritual when he realised how strange it seemed in that moment.

"How does your hair get so dirty it needs to be washed this often anyway?" Naruto groused as he worked the suds through the hair on the back of Sasuke's head.

"Who said anything about needing it?" Sasuke replied.

Naruto's hands stilled. "What? Didn't you used to wash it this often?"

"No. It's annoying."

"So why now?"

"Because now _I_ don't have to do it."

Naruto almost in that moment gave into temptation to grab Sasuke's hair and try to drown the smug bastard. But temptation passed and he resumed what he was doing though perhaps a shade more roughly than before.

"So what, after this you want me to fetch some slippers for you and give you a shoulder rub?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"Sounds good."

"I'm not your slave asshole!" Naruto snapped.

"You're the one that started this," Sasuke pointed out.

"Yeah well you're the one that doesn't like being touched. If your hair doesn't really need washing why did you…" Naruto stopped for a moment, his eyes widening slowly and his hands slowing down and falling from Sasuke's hair. "Ne Sasuke, do you actually _like_ me doing this?"

It took a few long moments for Sasuke to react but eventually he looked around at Naruto with a frown. "No."

The problem was that Naruto didn't believe him. A slow grin started to form on his face. Could it be that the great Uchiha Sasuke had a weakness so innocuous as having his hair played with?

Sasuke saw the expressed and huffed, taking a step forward until Naruto grabbed his arms and pulled him back. Immediately Sasuke tensed but Naruto held onto him firmly.

He laughed. "That's priceless! You have a thing for having your hair touched, don't you?"

"No, let me go," Sasuke warned.

"Or what? I know I'm right. C'mon Sasuke admit it and I'll do it longer. I'll do it tomorrow night too okay?"

Sasuke stopped pulling against him and sighed. "Why do you care?"

"'Cause it makes you less of an alien," Naruto told him happily.

Sasuke probably thought he was out of his mind but he finally relaxed causing him to slide back against Naruto. Sasuke seemed not to notice but the soapy water trailing down his back from his unrinsed hair had made a slippery trail. When he slid against Naruto, Naruto sucked in a quick breath and grabbed Sasuke's hip to stop the movement.

This was too reminiscent of the day after the festival by far now and made even worse because of the soap trail. Sasuke's back was warm, firm and slick against his own skin. Every small movement caused their bodies to slide against each other in what felt like an exaggerated manner because of the soap. Sasuke obviously hadn't realised what he'd done and looked around at him again with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Um, nothing."

Okay, so maybe there really was something wrong with him. He'd thought it was frustration in general and maybe it still was. But it reminded him how much better it was to feel someone warm up against him and how it had felt to just simply be able to touch and kiss another person. Well okay, if he randomly kissed Sasuke he wasn't sure if it was likely to be reciprocated or whether he would get punched, but the skin on skin contact was frustrating enough anyway.

What he really needed at the moment was something to distract himself because his body seemed to really not want to step away from Sasuke this time.

"So are you going to admit it? If you don't, I won't do it anymore." Naruto asked in what he hoped was a calm tone.

"Okay fine, if it will shut you up," Sasuke relented a little angrily.

Naruto took the win for what it was but he was still a little too distracted to feel properly elated about it. Besides, he was beginning to have another problem, one that Sasuke was sure to feel if he didn't move soon. But when he finally went to step away Sasuke reached out and grabbed his side. Pulling him back before Naruto could stop him.

"Don't you dare escape now, not after making me…"

And that's when Naruto had an 'oh fuck' moment. There was no way Sasuke could have missed the feel of a half hard dick push up against him or the slightly indrawn breath behind him for that matter either.

Naruto didn't know what to do. There was one option, have a stroke, which seemed foremost at the moment. Especially as unmoving silence dragged on making him even more anxious. He thought for a while moment that he could just quickly move and pretend like nothing had happened with a brave smile and laugh. But it had happened, they both knew it and pretending it hadn't just wasn't going to cut it anymore. Instead he decided it was better just to give in.

He slumped a little, resting his head against Sasuke's shoulder in defeat.

"Don't."

Whether he was asking Sasuke not to do that again or just simply not to say anything even he wasn't sure. He was confused enough as it was, he really didn't need Sasuke's incessant teasing right now or his possible anger either.

Instead Sasuke turned, still very close with an odd sort of focussed look in his eye. He seemed to be deciding whether to let it go or just be Sasuke instead.

Naruto watched wide-eyed as Sasuke sat and laid back in the water, rising the soap from his hair before standing up again. With water running down his body, hair plastered to his face, he stepped up close to Naruto, so close that Naruto could feel him press up against him very _very_ faintly. He wondered why Sasuke would do that since he knew what would be pressing back.

"Fine. But tomorrow you have to keep your promise."

Too grateful and stunned for words Naruto just nodded and watched as Sasuke turned and walked away up onto the embankment.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: Welcome back! And what a welcome back we have. Methinks Naruto is pretty frustrated by this point and is starting to work out just who seems to be bringing this out in him. Sasuke, on the other hand, is being overly accepting about it too which is probably saying a lot about his own feelings as well. But anyway it's a lovely step in the right direction._

_ So this chapter had been done for a while in draft form but every time I got a chance to do an edit I kept adding things. This happened about ten times. But hey it also means that the chapter is about a thousand words longer than it was originally so it's not all bad news. _

_ Many many thanks to sheechiibii whose words inspired some of the largest add ons for this chapter, mainly in the form of Sasuke introspection. At first I had very little reaction for Sasuke about Naruto talking about sex and 'private time' so pretty much all of the Sasuke stuff back in camp was added with sheechiibii's input in mind. Thank you so much sheechiibii!_

_ Till next time,_

_ Dash._

_**Unsigned Reviews – (btw I haven't been getting some of the notices for unsigned reviews for a while now. If I missed responding to you please know it isn't because I'm ignoring you and that my account seems to just like messing with me.)**_

_**Yu-chan – **__Haha, you started early with the 'hate yous' this time lol. I gotta say the ending was a tease, and yes because I am a little bit evil mwahaha. _

_I like Naruto trying to be all mischevious *grins* but I couldn't have him wise up too early 'cause it would ruin the fun methinks. I do like those little scenes where they are being too dense to notice what is really obvious to everyone else haha._

_Amazing but annoying, I like that description. Sort of hot but frustrating at the same time. I love though that a kissing scene reminded you in any way of a rimming scene. Makes me think it was a very hot thorough kiss lol. Of course I am overjoyed I have such a scene that stands out in your mind like that. Just for you much later on in the fic I will try to outdo that scene *grins*_

_And of course you can have as many hugs as you want! OOOOOO_

_**Nemesis Jedi – **__Yours was one review that I didn't get a notice on. I'm so glad I checked the reviews on the site otherwise I would have missed out on writing back :( So happy I checked now *huge grin* _

_Anyway, I really wanted to emphasise that Naruto could see through Sasuke's act when no one else could as a sort of growing closer kind of thing. It's great when it can add a little humour too though *grins*_

_Haha, well bath time is naked time I guess. It's also mainly when I have the wrap up and catch up conversations between the pair because it's a perfect time to have those discussions. And they're naked. Did I mention that? Lol_

_Well second base… um… sooooon (I say while biting my lip) _

_**Guest – **__Def a world's first methinks lol. But totally we do occasionally see his nice side and I'm going to work to bring that out in him a little more as we go along. And yeah, the whole moral to the story for this part would have been to accept people for who they are. Or in Naruto's case it is, like you said, he likes Sasuke for Sasuke and him pretending to be something he isn't even if it is a nicer version is not the Sasuke he grew to like in the end :)_

_**Sis – **__Thanks! I'm really happy you are enjoying it :)_


	20. Frustrated Ch2

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 9**

**Frustrated**

**Chapter 2/3**

It was mid afternoon the next day when Naruto lost his balance and fell into a bush.

All day Naruto had been unnecessarily quiet, just like he had been the previous day and it was starting to get on Sasuke's nerves. Sasuke couldn't quite place _why_ Naruto being silent always got on his nerves but it did. Probably because Naruto was only ever that way when he was either thinking deeply about something, embarrassed or both. Usually this would lead to awkwardness, possible stupid questions and Sasuke hated both of those outcomes. Naruto's incessant chatter, while mildly annoying still, was better than the alternative by far. And for some reason Naruto not talking when he usually did made the silence that much more intense_._

Yesterday Sasuke had attempted to lighten the mood by poking fun at him but it had failed pretty miserably. Acting like nothing was amiss sort of worked when he hadn't been able to start an argument so he figured that was probably the best course of action today as well.

The only problem was that acting that way was rather difficult today. And it was because of what had happened last night. And Naruto wasn't the only one who was bothered by it.

Alright so Naruto had gotten hard. Wasn't the first time. But it _was_ the first time sober. Sasuke had been pretty sure up until last night that what had happened on the night of the festival was a culmination of alcohol and frustrations. But Naruto had been sober and thanks to his 'private time' should not have been as wildly frustrated either. But with almost no help from Sasuke he'd gotten really aroused and the effect hadn't been all that horrifying. Which was also bugging him.

This was new territory for Sasuke in a lot of different ways. He'd never allowed himself to get as close to anyone as he had begun to with Naruto despite his best efforts to keep his space. And the reasons for denying himself something so simple seemed very distant to him and growing ever more distant the further they travelled together if anything. But being companionable was one thing, this was… decidedly different.

Wasn't it?

He felt like he should be more out of sorts about it. He felt like he should at least be angry if nothing else but he was… intrigued in a way that was unexpected. His very first instinct should have been to taunt Naruto about it despite Naruto's one word plea not to. And he wasn't sure why he hadn't taken the opportunity to taunt him or yell at him or any of those things. Of course Naruto telling him the other day that he had regretting sharing might have made Sasuke hold his tongue this time.

And besides, perhaps it had been a slip. Perhaps Naruto had been thinking of something else. I mean, Naruto liked girls, right?

Sasuke wasn't sure on that score even about himself. He hadn't really thought about it all that much. He hated most everyone he came into contact with male and female alike and had been so focussed on his dark past previous to this little jaunt that it was unsurprising to him that something he'd considered trivial up until this point hadn't given him much pause.

If he had to be completely honest with himself there was really only one person who had so far managed to get under his skin as far as sexual interest went. Sasuke had just thought he'd only gotten as worked up as he had because it was also the only time he'd been in such a situation with anyone else before. He just had refused to let it surface because this one person had in fact been Naruto. Of all people. And weirdly it seemed that these impulses had started before they'd even gotten to Morio's.

The night Naruto had kissed his cheek he had spent the entire night feeling that soft brush on his skin making him toss and turn in his sleep all night. He hadn't known why at the time but he realised now that nobody had done that to him before. No one had dared to, which suited Sasuke just fine. But all that had happened afterwards had been a sort of tempting tease for him because of it. Of course he refused to believe it was really all about Naruto, that was too bizarre. But the touches were new and thrilling in a way he'd never experienced. That drunken night of the festival had been him letting temptation take over for once and he'd regretted the whole thing the instant it was over.

Until now.

In all reality he wondered if he'd stopped regretting losing control because it seemed as though he wasn't the only one being a little frustrated here. Naruto might well be feeling something similar, being thrilled with the new experience if nothing else and it made Sasuke wonder in the logical part of his mind if letting his control slip again might be such a bad thing after all.

It seemed he liked being touched and for the first time in his life the thought of it wasn't irritating the ever-living fuck out of him anymore. He'd used to hate it so much so that even when Naruto had first started doing it, it had been his knee-jerk reaction to get pissed and annoyed.

Perhaps it did matter that Naruto seemed to understand the boundaries of 'too far'. A little cheek kiss might have caused Sasuke to get annoyed by the unexpected affection but he never did it in public, he never clung onto his arm like so many moon eyed girls of the past did either. Besides, most of his actions seemed to be to prove a point more than anything else and Sasuke could at least appreciate the intention behind it, even if he wasn't sometimes so thrilled with the effects of it.

Sasuke stopped on the track and absently looked up at a tree full of his favourite fruit and frowned at it.

Perhaps he was just losing his mind.

"You want me to get you some fruit?" Naruto asked when it seemed as though Sasuke was unwilling to reach up to grab it himself.

Sasuke had only paused because of his thoughts but now he saw what Naruto meant. The fruit on the tree wasn't within easy grabbing distance and he'd need to go up onto his toes to even have a chance of reaching the lowest piece. Around the base of the tree was a thick thorn bush which they'd learnt from minor encounters previously contained thorns that caused a mild sting when scratched, so climbing was out of the question too.

Sasuke eyed Naruto for a moment. "You aren't any taller than me," he observed. "What makes you think you can reach it when I can't?"

Naruto shrugged and didn't reply which was abnormal behaviour to say the least. They were both competitive by nature and Naruto could have been using the challenge as a way to show off. But without the show of bravado about it Sasuke figured the offer had more to do with him feeling bad about last night and wanting to make it up to Sasuke in some way.

Sasuke weighed up the pros and cons of letting him do it and decided he might as well. If it made Naruto feel better then perhaps it would stop the perpetual silence and make him more like his boastful self again. So Sasuke just gestured him forward making Naruto look first surprised and then pleased.

"You'll get no sympathy if you fall into the thorn bush though," Sasuke told him.

Naruto grinned for the first time since yesterday and walked up to the very edge of the thorn bush, reaching up and just managing to swipe the fruit with the very tips of his fingers. Getting bolder he went onto his toes and stretched up and forward, reaching and straining to get a hold of the fruit. He managed it but when the fruit came free of the tree he lost his balance and fell forward, right into the thorn bush.

Naruto might be a lot more clumsy these days without his chakra enhanced reflexes but he managed to turn his body to the side to stop himself getting a face full of thorns. He still yelled out when he went down though.

Sasuke went and stood over him as he attempted to struggle out of the bush without injuring himself further.

"You _did_ used to be a ninja, right?"

"Damnit teme, just help me out."

Sasuke helped Naruto pull himself out of the bush and almost actually winced as he looked him over. His pants seemed to have stopped most of the thorns but his thin shirt had been no protection. Here and there were thorns still imbedded in his skin, over his left arm, hand and side. There were even a few poking him in the neck and side of the face.

Remarkably though he handed Sasuke the fruit which had come through the plunge into the bush seemingly unharmed. He managed a smile despite the pain and the embarrassment.

"Nothing to it."

* * *

They set up camp in the next available spot near the river they could find. The thorns were barbed and after ripping out a few of them, Naruto had decided to wait till he could sit down before yanking the rest of them out.

Sasuke didn't feel bad about the incident. Naruto might have been trying to get the fruit for him, but as far as Sasuke could see it was still Naruto that had been the one to head-dive into thorns and refused to let himself feel guilty about it. But after twenty minutes of listening to the litany of hisses and grunts of pain Sasuke sat down next to him and told to lie on his side.

"They're only thorns, Sasuke. I can manage."

"I won't tell you again," Sasuke replied tersely.

With a sigh Naruto finally did as he was told and lay down on his side, his back to Sasuke while the latter leaned over him and started working out the thorns.

These things stung like ant bites when you got scratched so he could imagine what having a ton of them embedded into your skin might feel like. Naruto had removed most of the ones in his arm, neck and face so Sasuke worked on his torso. When he'd removed the last one he pushed up Naruto's shirt to inspect the damage. Sure enough the thorns had left angry red welts on his skin. His face wasn't nearly as bad though, probably because those were the first ones Naruto had removed afterwards. Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto's hip to brace himself and lean in for a closer look but the excessively warm skin under his hand distracted him a lot as he tried to inspect the welts for signs that the thorns might have turned out to be poisonous if left in for too long.

Trying to distract himself he ran his fingers lightly over the welts causing Naruto to hiss again.

"Do you feel sick?" Sasuke asked.

"No," Naruto replied in an oddly drawn out way, craning his neck around to look up at Sasuke. "Do you?"

"Why would I feel sick?"

"'Cause your, um, hand is…"

Sasuke frowned trying to work out what Naruto was saying. Then he focussed on what he was doing and stilled his hand immediately. His right hand, the one on Naruto's hip had been slowly caressing the smooth skin where it was resting. He didn't think the movement had been all that much but it was horrifying to realise he'd been unconsciously doing it.

If his hand kept doing things on its own like that he was going to have to cut it off.

"So you could feel that?" Sasuke asked thinking quickly.

"Uh, yeah."

"Good then. If you can feel sensation and you aren't feeling sick I should think the thorns haven't poisoned you after all."

"Oh. Well yeah, that is good news. Stings like hell though."

"You should go soak in the river then. Perhaps the water will help stop your bitching."

"Okay, sure. Asshole."

Naruto got up and stretched, pulling his shirt off and beginning to take off his pants when he realised Sasuke hadn't moved and was still sitting in front of him, watching.

"Aren't you coming?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke was too busy trying to work out what had just happened to hear Naruto properly.

"What? Why?"

"Well, 'cause I uh, owe you, remember?"

Sasuke had almost forgotten about Naruto's promise last night. And now faced with what he'd just been doing he wasn't sure if he'd welcome the distraction or not right now.

"Whatever dobe, I'll be there in a minute."

* * *

This particular part of the river was shallower than most. Even sitting in it, the water was only barely chest high. So after he'd wet his hair the pair of them sat down with Sasuke's back to Naruto as he began to wash out Sasuke's hair like usual.

What wasn't like usual was how he felt about it tonight. Had it always felt like this and he hadn't noticed or was Naruto doing something else tonight on purpose? Sasuke doubted it but for some reason he felt each touch a little more acutely than normal tonight.

He'd found lately that going through this ritual was relaxing in a way he couldn't fathom. Naruto had made him confess that he liked the treatment and he couldn't deny it for too long. The strong fingers pushing through his hair gave him tingles that ran down his neck and along his spine. The gentle tug on his hair and the massage against his scalp was like a complete mental switch off for Sasuke that he enjoyed a lot more than he imagined he ever would.

But tonight he was finding it a little more difficult to switch off than usual. He felt Naruto's gentle but firm fingers scrape across his scalp, occasionally trailing against his neck, rubbing against his ears and it was… distracting. It downright shocked him when Naruto leaned forward, his warm chest pushing up against Sasuke's back. Sasuke felt the 'thank you' kiss against his cheek before Naruto leant back again and continued his ministrations.

"What was that for?" Sasuke asked tensely, his back feeling very cold at the loss of contact.

"For the thorns. It feels a lot better now."

"It would be better overall if you stopped being so fucking clumsy," Sasuke shot back. "You don't even like that fruit."

"No, but you do. I figured I owed you."

Sasuke didn't reply at first. He had not wanted to talk about last night. But then something about that explanation bothered him for some reason.

"You want to thank me for not being an asshole?"

"Well I know how much of an ask that is for you," Naruto replied lightly.

"Tch. Whatever."

Sasuke let his head loll a little as he finally felt himself relax more. At least Naruto hadn't skimped on his promise. He sat there and ran his fingers through Sasuke's hair without further conversation or complaint and after a while he was so relaxed he started to feel sleepy.

* * *

He woke up a little while later, reclined back in the water, the cool water sliding against his chest and warmth pressed up against his back as well as the sides of his legs. It was pleasant lying there, still and relaxed.

Up until the point he realised why his back was so warm.

He came awake swiftly with that realisation, his eyes snapping open and sitting up quickly, his hands clamping down on warm outstretched legs underneath the water where his hands had been unconsciously resting.

They weren't his legs.

He'd obviously fallen asleep back against Naruto who'd stretched out his legs either side of Sasuke and braced his arms out behind himself to keep them both comfortable and upright while Sasuke slept.

"You fell asleep on me," Naruto spoke up defensively as though sensing Sasuke's irritation upon waking.

"You could have woken me," Sasuke accused turning his head and eyeing the man behind him.

Naruto shrugged. "You looked pretty comfortable. But hey, Sasuke, do you mind letting go? If you dig your nails in any more you're gonna draw blood."

Sasuke let up his deathgrip on Naruto but didn't go so far as to remove his hands entirely. The skin beneath his hands felt smooth and nice. He realised suddenly that he didn't _want_ to move his hands. Despite his shock at what he'd done, Naruto had been right; he had felt very comfortable.

"C'mon Sasuke, let me go. I didn't mind being your backrest for a while but now you're awake I need to move a bit. My ass has gone to sleep."

Sasuke complied, shifting forward in the water and leaning over to duck his head underneath the surface to rid himself of whatever soap was left in his hair. When he flicked his head back up he heard a surprised cry.

"Fuck teme, watch where you're spraying!"

Sasuke was about to offer a scathing reply about how much he didn't care when he felt fingers moving through the wet lengths of his hair, knuckles occasionally brushing against the back of his neck. The sensation was enough to give him a shiver across his shoulders.

"Your hair is getting pretty long," Naruto commented.

"No it isn't."

"Okay so not _long, _long. But longer than I know you like."

"How the hell would you know what I like?" Sasuke shot back without thinking.

"Well I know you like me washing out your hair, which is weird by the way. But I also figured you liked your hair the way you've been generally wearing it since you were little otherwise you would have changed it by now."

It was an annoyingly good point and one Sasuke would have seen coming had Naruto not been distracting him.

"Well maybe it's time for a change," Sasuke replied spitefully.

"You with long hair?" Naruto asked with a small chuckle. "Hah, you'd look like a girl."

Sasuke seriously doubted that. "Bet you'd like that," he muttered once again without proper thought.

He didn't know why he'd said such a thing. He wasn't even sure where it had come from. No matter how long his hair got he was definitely guy looking. And he didn't really for one moment think Naruto thought otherwise either, he'd just been teasing him. So perhaps he'd become a little too conscious about the weird happenings between them lately. All the touching, the frustration, everything. And then the further thought about how stupid it seemed that he could be the focus of Naruto's frustration even after last night because Naruto liked girls. He shouldn't be getting all turned on by his decidedly _male_ friend. When he'd talked about meeting someone he'd mentioned girls even then, not guys.

"What, why?" Naruto asked confused.

"Forget it," Sasuke told him, regretting the slip instantly. He needed Naruto to stop touching him, that was his problem.

He got to his feet but Naruto grabbed his wrist before he could walk away.

"Is this about what you said ages ago about me wishing I was travelling with someone else like Sakura?" Naruto asked in confusion. "'Cause I already told you I liked it better this way."

For a long moment Sasuke figured he should just jerk his arm free and walk away. He had decided against bringing last night up again because of awkwardness and all the rest. Plus he wasn't naturally a sharer either and didn't like voicing issues that weren't focussed on whatever primary goal he was after at the time. But he knew it would bug him if he didn't say something. He enjoyed things bugging him even less than sharing.

"I think you're confused," Sasuke told Naruto evenly.

Naruto's brows drew together in clear mystification. "What?"

"You're confusing me with something else," Sasuke elaborated.

Unsurprisingly Naruto still wasn't getting it and Sasuke could only roll his eyes and sigh. Sasuke tried to think of another way to word it.

"You think I'm socially retarded because I've never been close to anyone other than my family before, fine. But for all your friends in Konoha you don't have anyone you are especially close to either so I don't see how you're much different than me like that other than an overenthusiastic want to bond with anyone who will let you get close. But I think you're getting confused over friendship bonds and… other bonds."

Naruto spent a few moments trying to work that one out. "Did you just insult me?"

"Kind of," Sasuke admitted carelessly. "In a way I just called you desperate."

Naruto didn't look happy by that observation one bit. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you should have had a girlfriend by now."

Naruto tried to continue to look angry in what he knew must be still Sasuke insulting him but he was clearly still too confused as to what Sasuke's real point was. But then it was like a small light bulb went off over his head and his face cleared in understanding. Surprisingly he actually smiled.

"I'm not actually ever going to confuse you with a girl Sasuke. I was just teasing you. And sure, I'm not extra close to anyone in particular in Konoha but I do have friends. Girls, guys, I've never once…" Naruto's smile dropped before he could finish that sentence. "I know the difference. It's not desperation. I don't know what it was last night, but it's not just cause I'm getting confused by closeness and whatever."

"Frustration then," Sasuke told him instead.

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe. But it doesn't mean I'm confused about it the way you think. And it doesn't mean you're not my friend. And it doesn't mean you're anything else to me either, it's just…"

"What?"

"You, I guess. It's different with you."

Truthfully, they'd been all over each other a few times now and at least two of those times hadn't been just for show. Drunk sure, Naruto's weird little experiments, okay. They'd even made out a couple of times just to prove points. But still, maybe he shouldn't be so surprised that situations past had started to get to both of them. Perhaps they were really just at a point where it was a matter of stopping it entirely or just going with it. And Sasuke wasn't sure how he felt about either alternative.

One thing was for sure, he was at least comforted by one aspect of their conversation. Naruto seemed to understand the difference between what was more in a usual friendship and what wasn't. Plus, he didn't seem to be projecting anything more on into that feeling of friendship other than what he felt was already there. He wasn't reaching out to him because he was desperate to get close to _anyone_. He was reacting to what he felt was comfortable and natural to him with one particular person.

Sasuke still felt he was being a little weird about it though. Even if this kind of friendship was a one off with Sasuke only type of thing, it was still strange.

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered before pulling his hand free and heading back to camp.

Naruto grinned at him though so it was possible he hadn't said the word with much feeling behind it. Or if he had it was the wrong kind of feeling.

* * *

Why was it that he couldn't stop thinking about the body contact?

Sasuke didn't really like being touched in any way. He didn't like people invading his personal space either. It had a tendency to make him feel out of sorts and more than a little vulnerable. And he _really_ disliked that feeling.

The only people that had used to even hug him had been his family before so perhaps he had issues about the touching thing because he'd never let anyone get that close to him after they'd been killed.

Of course the kind of touching he was experiencing now had nothing to do with family type comfort, _far_ from it. But there was always the idea that the lack of trust he had in people because of what had happened to him could tie into his previous issues with having anyone physically close to him now. It sounded screwed up even to him and normally he wouldn't even try to work it out but recent happenings were _making_ him think about it.

More and more he found himself in situations now where the slightest touch affected him a lot more than it should. It didn't feel abhorrent anymore, it didn't especially freak him out and he completely and utterly blamed that on Naruto.

With all his talk about frustrations, Naruto had bought to light something that Sasuke had never really thought about before. And he didn't know if it was because he had fallen into some kind of strange comfort zone with Naruto or not because of their almost constant contact with each other, but Sasuke was really starting to feel a particular kind of itch these days.

It teased at him even now as he lay there trying to sleep. Remembrances of hands on skin, kissing, the warmth and the borderline aggression even were doing strange things to his head. It was certainly a strange time to start to become aware that his body was awakening to something new but if he took a moment to think about it logically he supposed that it was going to happen sooner or later because he wasn't, as Naruto suggested, an alien but human.

And it didn't even really bug him that it was Naruto who had apparently led him into these thoughts anymore. He didn't assume for one moment it had anything to do with how he felt about him personally other than a grudging trust and an ever-increasing sense of familiarity.

Naturally he didn't like showing anyone any sense of exposure even physically but by this point he might only succeed in driving himself crazy by continuing to be stubborn about it.

By now they'd done more with each other than he had ever experienced before and like he had told himself earlier, he could tell himself that it was only happening because he was allowing his body to think for him due to his own frustrations and try to ignore it or he could just simply give in.

Giving in went against his nature but being annoyed and bothered by something was as well. And when Naruto didn't seem to think anything all that creepy was happening he felt stupid about being the one to over-think it. Plus, by giving in he had very little to lose by this point. He had to admit, grudgingly, that there was little more Naruto could see of him that he hadn't already seen before. He doubted very much if giving in meant there would be too much uncomfortableness on either side. In fact it might even make it less awkward.

Besides, this was a physical thing. Even Naruto understood that, so why couldn't he? If this sort of thing hadn't been important to him before why agonise over it now, what did he really have to lose at this point? If nothing else it might just scratch that annoying itch so he could stop fucking thinking about it so much.

Across the darkened camp he heard Naruto move and he closed his eyes. It was childish he knew, but he didn't want to answer questions about why he was still awake.

He heard Naruto crawl closer, so close that Sasuke could sense him next to him.

"You're not asleep," Naruto told him.

Sasuke ignored him.

"I can tell you know. You look… different, when you're asleep."

Sasuke sighed and opened his eyes. Naruto was sitting next to him on his knees. It was a little dark but Sasuke could see the outline of his face clearly.

"What do you want?"

"I can't sleep," he stated unnecessarily.

"Neither can I with you watching me like that. It's creepy."

"You weren't sleeping, I know you weren't."

"And it's even more creepy that you've studied me that closely while I am asleep. What do you want?" Sasuke repeated.

"I guess I sort of… want to apologise."

That had sounded hard to say for Naruto and Sasuke couldn't blame him. It wasn't that Naruto was incapable of apologising but he rarely did to Sasuke. But lately he seemed to be doing a lot of apologising, it was kind of depressing.

"Fine. Go to sleep."

Sasuke rolled over and it was a few silent moments spent where Naruto remained unmoving and unspeaking. Then Sasuke felt a hand on his shoulder.

It might have been a knee-jerk reaction that made Sasuke retaliate, something left over from his past that meant if someone touched you suddenly they were a threat, or it could well have been the frustration driving that made him grab Naruto's hand, sit up and push him back almost in one movement. But either way it resulting in him hovering over Naruto who had been pushed onto his back, their faces inches away from each other while Sasuke pinned the hand he had grabbed into the grass above Naruto's head.

By this point he was breathing a little harder than the effort warranted and though Naruto looked startled at first he then looked up at Sasuke with a faint smile.

"You're losing it, that didn't even hurt."

"That can change really quickly," Sasuke warned him darkly.

"Uh huh, sure."

The problem with Naruto was that he was pretty physically strong to begin with. Sasuke had better reflexes, more refined fighting technique but in a up close test of strength alone he was hard pressed to beat Naruto when Naruto put all his power behind something.

So when Naruto tensed his muscles and pushed Sasuke to the side, Sasuke didn't have much of an opportunity to resist and instead found himself on his back with Naruto straddling his mid-section. Sasuke attempted to buck him off but Naruto leant over and put his hands on Sasuke's shoulders and used all his weight to hold him down.

Curiously his eyes closed briefly. "Don't do that."

But Sasuke wasn't enjoying being held down right now, he was beginning to feel out of sorts again and squirmed under Naruto in another attempt to free himself.

"Fuck Sasuke, stop it!"

Naruto may rant at him a lot but he never ever used such a commanding tone and to his own horror, Sasuke couldn't help but still after that. Once he stopped, Naruto took his hands off his shoulders and sat back and it was then he realised that Naruto had told him to stop, not because Sasuke fighting against him was irritating, but actually quite the opposite.

So without thinking, once his upper body was freed Sasuke sat up and kissed him.

Just. Like. That.

This had become way too easy to do. Too easy and too good and he figured that it was official, his own physical frustrations were driving him crazy as well.

This couldn't keep happening like this. It seemed as though they were both too distracted by now and if that distraction continued without any respite this would only get worse. They both needed… something.

After a few minutes they stopped, breathed for a while before Naruto abruptly got up and went back to his own bedding. Apparently Naruto wasn't quite at the 'giving in' stage yet but Sasuke was pretty sure he was, whatever that might entail.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked him sharply.

"I liked your idea of punishment a lot more when you didn't know better," Naruto told him lying down.

That almost caused Sasuke to smile. Obviously Naruto thought Sasuke had done that to get back at him again. Well perhaps that was partially true but what that really said to Sasuke was that Naruto enjoyed it, perhaps a little too much. It probably would take next to nothing to persuade him that punishment wasn't all Sasuke was after here.

Logically, Sasuke reasoned, giving in was the fastest way to restore the status quo.

TBC

* * *

_Notes: So I noticed after I posted the last chapter that this fic has officially surpassed the 100k word mark. Wow. Is it just me or does it feel like it is a shorter fic than that? Seems like only yesterday they were waking up in field together naked…_

_So anyway, yeah I teased a bit more but not too badly this time methinks because Sasuke seems to have come to some sort of understanding of his own feelings of the situation and decided to 'give in'. (I really hope gothpandaotaku is laughing their ass off right now haha.) But just what 'giving in' means or turns out to be will have to wait for next chapter *grins*_

**_Unsigned Reviews - _**

**_Guest – _**_First forest, then room :)_

**_Bunnyguest – _**_Yes that was rather evil of Sasuke to leave a guy hanging like that. But eh, this is Sasuke lol. Well this was a moderately long chapter so I hope you liked it :) Haha yes, a voyeur scene would be very steamy *grins*_

**_Guest – _**_Well the update was pretty quick this time but sometimes I need a little time off between parts to think up story ideas and have a life occasionally lol. Chapters for each part though tend to come out within about a week of each other thanks to the time taken between parts for plotting. _

_Thanks, I'm really happy you are enjoying it :)_

_****__Sassy – __Haha, yeah I think I've made lots of people, just not the boys frustrated by this one lol. I do like bringing out some of the nicer sides of Sasuke. There is that small part of me that enjoys bastard Sasuke though too which is probably weird *grins* Thanks!_


	21. Frustrated Ch3

**The Long Way Home**

**Part 9**

**Frustrations**

**Chapter 3/3**

Thankfully they found a town the next day. It was a small one so the choices of accommodation were pretty slim. The local Inn was packed with farmers bringing in their wares for the market the following morning and they were lucky to get a room at all.

When they opened the door it was to find that the room contained a bed, one bed in fact and no futons, a bathroom and that was about it.

"Ah, wanna flip for it?" Naruto asked hopefully as they stared at the bed from the doorway.

Sasuke dumped his bag by the door and went off towards the bathroom obviously eager for a hot bath.

"No," he said shortly as he disappeared.

Naruto sighed and dropped his bag next to Sasuke's, toed off his shoes and went and sat on the end of the bed. When he looked up at the wall opposite he was momentarily startled to see his own reflection looking back at him.

The mirror opposite the bed wasn't huge or anything so he supposed it hadn't been placed there for any other reason than it was a handy piece of wall to hang a mirror from but it was big enough to remind him a little too strongly of the last time he had seen himself reflected sitting on the edge of a bed like this.

The world wasn't fair sometimes. Lately it had seemed intent on reminding him about every little even slightly sexual moment from the last month. Even more unfair that all those moments had featured Sasuke.

At least the memories of that night hadn't really bothered him at all until now. At the time all he remembered was being really anxious and perhaps a tad scared too so it was hardly something he thought back on as a close moment between the pair. But in light of recent events and recent frustrations remembering it now made him flush and bite his lip.

He let himself fall backward after a few moments in aggravation at his own thoughts and stared at the ceiling instead before closing his eyes and willing himself to think of nothing for a while.

* * *

He woke up to the feeling of someone sitting on the bed far up above his head and blinked at the ceiling for a few moments before he realised he must have fallen asleep. He must have been a lot more tired than he'd thought.

He sat up and was again confronted by his mirror image only this time he could see Sasuke off to his left, sitting cross legged with his back up against the headboard and looking down at his maps. His hair still looked damp from the bath.

"How long was I asleep?" Naruto asked Sasuke's reflection.

Sasuke looked up at him, his head resting in his hand, his elbow propped up on a knee. Sasuke met his eyes in the mirror.

"Not long," he replied. "Maybe an hour."

"Oh. I guess I didn't sleep so well last night. I got a headache and it kept me awake." Naruto stared at the mirror for a while longer. "This mirror is really creepy," Naruto decided.

Sasuke swept the maps aside and moved closer so he could peer at the offending item more directly. He was on his knees a little ways behind Naruto, looking at the mirror over Naruto's right shoulder. It didn't help ease Naruto's memory at all.

"How is the mirror creepy?" Sasuke asked after a moment.

"It just is. It reminds me of Morio's."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that.

"Never mind, it isn't important," Naruto told him not liking the scrutiny or where the conversation was going.

That was when Sasuke seemed to catch up and his mouth tipped into an amused half smile. He slid closer with his legs folded beneath him and locked eyes with Naruto in the mirror.

"C'mon was your brain so damaged by that night?" Sasuke asked mockingly.

"By Morio, by the creepy guy watching, sure."

"But not me?"

"No. I told you why."

"Right, comfortable. I don't think you were so comfortable at the time though."

"Yeah but I wouldn't say it was totally _un_comfortable either."

Sasuke stared into his eyes through the mirror, his smile slowly dissipating. Naruto suddenly realised what he'd said might be taken the wrong way, but Sasuke spoke up before he could reassure him otherwise.

"You have very interesting ways of not telling me the whole truth."

Okay, so not the response he had been fearing, but not much better either. Did Sasuke suspect? Well after the last few nights it wouldn't be surprising.

"Look who's talking," Naruto scoffed. "It's not like I'm trying to hide anything."

Sasuke changed positions slightly, crossing his legs beneath him. Naruto could feel Sasuke's bare legs press in against his sides then he leant forward till Naruto could feel his breath gust against the side of his neck.

"Liar."

Naruto could see one of Sasuke hands in the bed beside him sort of flexing against the bedclothes as though Sasuke was restraining himself from doing something physical. It made Naruto a little uneasy and that was because Sasuke was being a little weird. Well weirder than usual. It was almost like he was trying to goad Naruto into something and all Naruto could think of was that perhaps Sasuke wanted to take a swing at him. Maybe the reminder of Morio's hadn't been the best thing to bring up considering Sasuke's mood lately. Perhaps Sasuke was about ready to snap.

"I'm not lying. Look I'm sorry I bought it up, I know it's not the greatest memory for you. But I'm not actually trying to piss you off this time."

"You keep bringing up lots of memories. I'm not pissed off, but that might not last for much longer if it keeps happening."

Oh. Shit.

Sasuke wasn't just talking about Morio's apparently. Everything since then that had happened between them was obviously on his mind and Naruto had the strong impression that Sasuke was getting sick of it. Perhaps not even his way of punishing Naruto for it was amusing for him anymore.

He wanted to promise Sasuke that nothing would happen again. He'd keep his hands to himself, therefore Sasuke wouldn't feel the need to one up him and get him back and all would be right with the world once more. But how could he promise that when it seemed as though his body wasn't listening to his brain anymore? He just wasn't sure if it was a promise he could keep.

"I want to promise that I won't do it anymore," Naruto began.

"But you can't," Sasuke finished for him. "Neither can I. And that's the problem."

At first Naruto didn't really hear the admission for what it was and it took a few moments for that small statement of 'neither can I' to register fully in his brain. But when it did his eyes widened dramatically and he stared at Sasuke's reflection in shock.

But then should he really be so shocked? That Sasuke had admitted to it sure, but that he was really thinking such a thing? Hrm, perhaps not. Naruto had to remind himself that Sasuke had been kissing him a lot lately. Apart from the drunken festival though Sasuke had always seemed to be either trying to prove a point or get back at him. Or at least, that's what Naruto had thought. Was it even possible that Sasuke had kissed him because he'd just simply wanted to? I mean this was Sasuke after all, a month ago he'd been telling Naruto off for kissing his cheek but not once lately had Sasuke even paused for a moment at full on tongue molesting him.

Naruto suddenly felt very stupid.

It was also at this point that Naruto realised that Sasuke wasn't actually teasing him. That smirky little tone was absent and Sasuke looked completely serious.

"What are you thinking?" Naruto asked softly.

"I'm thinking that we're going to keep getting hung up on this same shit all the time. I'm deciding whether it will eventually fade with time or whether it is saner to give in and stop being frustrated."

"What does 'giving in' mean?"

However this question seemed to stump Sasuke and Naruto couldn't blame him. Of course that could have something do to with still not completely understanding what Sasuke was suggesting. Well perhaps that wasn't entirely true. He kinda knew even before he'd asked considering the direction of the conversation, but the details were still lost to him. And apparently he wasn't alone.

It wasn't the first time Sasuke had balked in this kind of situation. The same thing had happened when they'd practised for their act at Morio's. Of course since Sasuke had gotten over that first kiss he hadn't really seemed to have had any uncertainty since. But now presented with something new he was yet again hesitating but this time Naruto wasn't in a better frame of mind to help him out like last time.

His eyes flicked down to watch Sasuke's hand stop clutching at the bed and ease toward his leg slightly, his thumb a hairs-breath away from actually touching him and shock of all shocks almost imperceptivity shaking. Was Sasuke actually nervous? The thought seemed pretty alien that Sasuke could get nervous about anything. Ever. But it sure looked like it right now.

"Sasuke?"

When Naruto looked back at his face, Sasuke had been looking randomly at the mirror as though somehow he would see the answer reflected back at him. In the end though it did seem to give him the answer he was searching for.

"The mirror reminds me of Morio's as well," he said almost to himself.

"Great," Naruto replied insincerely. "The mirror creeps you out too."

"It's not creeping me out, it's giving me ideas."

Naruto couldn't help but snort and laugh at that one. A moment ago he'd been so tense that if a fly had landed on him he probably would have tried to Rasengan it into oblivion in a second. Luckily he couldn't have done it if he tried and even luckier that Sasuke's general weird behaviour had eased his tension.

"What, you want a replay?" Naruto asked jokingly, still grinning.

"Do you?" Sasuke countered seriously.

So that pretty much wiped the smile off his face in quick order.

"Seriously?"

Sasuke nodded just as he felt Sasuke thumb make the slightest of touches against the side of his leg.

"Um, I don't think pretending to jerk me off is going to help much."

He saw Sasuke roll his eyes. "Idiot. I didn't mean an exact repeat."

"Then what…?"

"Like leaving out the 'pretending' part."

His eyes flew down to watch Sasuke's hand as it swept over his leg and up to press his palm flat low against Naruto's belly. His fingers teased at the buttons at his waist as though still just that little bit unsteady. Finally Sasuke got a few of the top buttons of his pants undone and then that hand started to slide ever so slowly downwards.

In a rush of nerves Naruto grabbed his hand almost exactly as he'd done at Morio's, his fingers jammed between each of Sasuke's up near the latter's knuckles stopping his movement immediately.

Sasuke's slightly annoyed face came back into his view in the mirror.

"If you tell me you want me to stop, I might actually laugh."

"If you do stop I'll probably hit you," Naruto promised right back. "Just tell me why you want this."

"I don't want this. I need it," Sasuke replied simply but surprisingly firmly.

Naruto stopped restraining him immediately, mostly due to shock, and all he could do was grip Sasuke's wrist as his hand delved down further. At the first light and somewhat tentative touch against him he felt his back stiffen and his jaw drop open causing a puff of air to escape.

He felt Sasuke's lips against the back of his shoulder but Naruto could still see his eyes poking over, watching him apparently pleased with himself. Then he felt those lips curve up into a mocking smile.

"Asshole," Naruto ground out.

That's pretty much when being tentative stopped and Sasuke got bolder. Firm fingers wrapped around him and Naruto's eyes promptly dropped closed and he groaned.

Nobody had ever touched him like this before and he was surprised at how amazing it felt to have another person's hand on you. It also felt a little dream-like too. No matter what had happened between them he never even considered that something like this would be the result.

He was more than ready to believe that Sasuke's social skills were a little on the strange side but his reactions, decisions and wants seemed to fluctuate so randomly it made his head spin to even try and see a pattern to it all. Sasuke usually dealt with people by getting angry, being rude, despondent or in some cases violent. He had no middle ground, he wasn't used to even having a middle ground which is why Naruto figured Sasuke could go from detached indifference to groping horniness in the space of about two minutes.

But Naruto wasn't really in a position to be complaining right now. Whatever weird mood flux Sasuke was currently enjoying meant he had the deft fingers of a skilled ninja slowly and teasingly jerking him off and he was hardly about to call a time out to try and figure out the motivation behind it.

But something did float to the surface in the part of his brain that was still working and that was the memory of Sasuke admitting that he was frustrated as well. Surely this alone wasn't doing anything for him personally. He'd probably only done it to have a place to start.

It was awkward, but he managed to snake his free hand around behind him, in between them, to be reminded in his hazy and already aroused state that oh yeah, Sasuke only slept in his shirt most nights. He knuckles brushed against solid skin allowing him to locate what he was after and wrap his own hand around Sasuke.

He heard a hiss of indrawn breath in his ear and Sasuke's hand stilled on him for a horrible moment making Naruto think perhaps he'd done the wrong thing. But then it resumed and Naruto let out a shuddering breath.

The flesh wrapped in his hand felt hot and strangely bizarre. Not that he didn't know what a hard dick felt like in his hand of course. But this wasn't him, this was someone else. Someone else who was making soft but incredibly exciting sounds almost directly in his ear. He flexed his hand experimentally and was rewarded when Sasuke reflexively clamped down on him even more tightly.

Holy crap this was amazing. To feel someone touching him, to touch someone else and to know how turned on they were was indescribable to him in that moment. All he was aware of was the sensation of touch and the soft sounds in his ear as they drew each other closer to the edge with each passing moment hands pumping in an imperfect and uncoordinated rhythm with each other. Not that Naruto noticed how unsteady either of them were being, it felt almost too good and that was all he could really think about as they seemed to unconsciously egg each on to go even faster through touch alone.

The act of reciprocating had worked to distract him in some sense but not for too much longer before felt close to finishing. It was just too much and so overwhelming that he couldn't have held back had he tried. He came hard, crying out and barely managing to keep the momentum up to drive Sasuke over as well. Thankfully Sasuke had been close too and almost buried his face against Naruto's shoulder muffling his own sounds.

Afterwards they continued to sit propped up by each other, breathing heavily, hands still loosely clasping each other.

It was at some point a few minutes later when normal thought returned to Naruto. Then his brain kind of freaked out. His head came up sharply and he opened his eyes to see Sasuke watching him, flushed and if not panicked himself then as close to Sasuke ever got to the emotion.

"That um…just happened didn't it?" Naruto asked carefully.

Sasuke nodded slowly but then for some odd reason said, "That depends."

"Oh what?" Naruto asked mystified.

"On whether we have to talk about it or not anymore."

Naruto thought about that. "Um, I vote no."

"Seconded. Then yes, that happened."

Sasuke backed up and got off the bed, heading for the bathroom. He came back out after a moment and gestured that the bathroom was free and Naruto went in, shutting the door behind him and leaning up against it as though his legs were incapable of keeping him upright on their own for any longer.

He took his time bathing and this time resolutely tried not to think about what had just happened. But it was difficult. This was a first time of sorts for him, the second of which he ruefully realised had happened with Sasuke. Sasuke had been his first kiss. Sort of. Now this.

In his mind he had imagined that if he ever found himself in this sort of situation it would be less confusing. Not to mention his imagination had never factored a guy into this situation not even after the other night when he'd come with the picture of Sasuke in his head.

He felt bewildered and strange and wondered stupidly if he was trapped in some bizarre dream where Sasuke, ex-rogue, killer, turned playful tease with amazing hands was all his imagination after all. It certainly seemed more likely that the idea that Sasuke would just feel him up almost out of nowhere and give him his first orgasm bought on by someone other than himself for a change.

Did Sasuke even like him? Sure they seemed more friends than not these days but the Sasuke from his past seemed so stand-offish, so emotionally retarded and physically restrained with this sort of stuff that it was hard to think he'd initiate something like _that_. But it had happened, it was real and Sasuke wanted to deal with it like he always did by resolutely not dealing with it. But that was okay, because Naruto didn't really want to have _that_ deep and meaningful conversation with Sasuke anyway because he had the strongest feeling he wouldn't like the results.

He could allow himself to believe they were friends now, it wasn't such a long shot even if Sasuke sometimes told him they weren't. But in all honesty he had to also admit that what had just happened was a weird side effect of their bonding over the past couple of weeks. It was a strange way to bond sure, but they'd had a decidedly strange few weeks. Naruto had admitted to being frustrated and Sasuke was too to judge by what had just happened so Naruto decided to chalk it up to experience and let it go at that.

So their friendship had some strange quirks to it, weird but it wasn't like it was a bad thing. He could almost still feel Sasuke's hand moving against him and it felt good, weird or not. So quirks weren't bad, they were a bonus.

He just wondered if and when their friendship might quirk again.

* * *

He got out of the tub and put his shorts on to re-enter the room to find the lights off and Sasuke curled up under the bedclothes and wondered if this meant he was sleeping on the floor or not.

_Screw it,_ Naruto thought after a moment.

He slipped into the opposite side of the bed but made sure not to inadvertently invade personal space just in case Sasuke got the wrong idea or had reverted back to his usual self.

"I don't want to sleep on the floor," he told Sasuke to ward against being told off.

Sasuke sighed. "I didn't say you had to dobe. This bed is big enough to sleep five people I think we can both deal with it."

Naruto rolled to face Sasuke's back. "Ne, Sasuke?"

"I thought we voted on this," Sasuke said forestalling him.

"Don't assume you know what I'm going to say," Naruto challenged. "I was only going to say that I feel really relaxed. It's nice, you know, giving in."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment. "That was the point. Getting your frustrations out of your system will mean you are going to be less distracted by them in the future."

"But you said that just once wasn't going to cure me."

Sasuke was quiet for a few moments. Apparently Sasuke had been unprepared for that reaction.

"It's not like we had sex."

Naruto was pretty stunned by the whole idea of that. But then he remembered that Sasuke was just referring to the conversation they'd had about meeting a girl and 'private time'. Besides, sex was on some kind of _whole_ other level. It was not something you did just to ease tension with your friends.

Right?

Besides, Sasuke was… Sasuke was… well, Sasuke. Naruto was still trying to make his brain believe what had just happened between them wasn't just some weird dream.

"Yeah I know that, but-"

"So I suppose you wish that you could feel relaxed like this more often huh?"

Well apparently he wasn't as subtle as all that. It appeared as though Sasuke already knew what he was thinking which didn't irritate him as much as it normally might. So Naruto grinned at the probing, though still vaguely ass-covering question.

"Well yeah. I mean, it beats being frustrated, right?"

Again Sasuke took his time to respond but Naruto imagined that Sasuke was also smirking just a little when he replied.

"Yes, it does."

TBC in Part 10.

* * *

_Notes: Well no, still no penetrative sex but hello progression! Now who really thought they were going to see that level of groping happen during this part? Well sure I hinted the hell out of it but oh so many times now I've worked up to it and left it at a tease I bet you all thought I was gonna do the same this time huh? Either that or have them totally give in and have hot raunchy sex. But neither happened in the end, or rather something in between happened. It's all part of my unpredictable evil I tells you mwahaha. I gotta admit there was more to this chapter but I cut a few thousand words in order to instead amalgamate it with Part 10. But that doesn't mean the chapter turned out a lot shorter. I made up for the loss by re-writing and expanding a lot of this chapter. And to ease your minds, no, you did not miss out on any smut either. Well not important smut anyway lol._

_ So there may be a slightly longer than usual wait for Part 10 for a few reasons. It's time to me to try and get to another promised giftfic out, I've still got to finish of the current WNL part, plus I also decided very recently that Part 10 is going to be a whole lot more involved than originally anticipated. It was going to be a relatively small Part dealing with the after effects of what happened in this part but I have revised that somewhat. We've strayed a little from the episodic feel to the series so I would like to combine what I originally planned with a situational plot for them to deal with as well. It means that Part 10 will be bigger, but it also means I'm behind in my plotting because of my late change of heart. Usually by this point I have at least _something_ written but this new plot will require a total re-write of what little I already do have so I'm basically starting from scratch. But I promise it's all for the better and the waiting will make for a much more rounded story and intimate interaction. With the new structure of Part 10 there will be some danger, some caving and half naked boys covered in mud ;) But at this point I'm not going to predict when it might be out so please be patient with me. _

_In the meantime, once I get a solid plan and beginning done for Part 10, I'll post a preview on tumblr and a guesstimate on when it might be ready for posting. Also I've been playing around with a world map and should have the Arrei area of the map up soonish. Plus I was thinking of doing up some quick ideas for the next few parts of the series to let you all know what's upcoming (once I get it all clear myself) but I'm not completely sold on this idea just yet or whether anyone would even be interested knowing ahead of time. We'll see on that last one._

_ But anyway, I'll be seeing you next time!_

_Dash._

**Unsigned Reviews –**

_**Bunnyguest – **__haha well Sasuke had to eventually work things out. But as you saw there was less teasing and just a little more action and it took Naruto very little time to give in as well :)_

_**Tea leaves – **__Thanks! Well an end to the drawn out teasing perhaps but not, methinks, of teasing entirely. But at least we know now that they aren't scared of relieving such tension *big grin*_

_**Hunny – **__Wow, thanks so much. It is getting a little steamy absolutely and so much fun to write :)_

_**Guest – **__Well for now it doesn't seem like anything Sasuke can't, erm, handle, so to speak. But totally, I think Sasuke doesn't know just what he is in for now that he's opened up this can of worms. This is but the beginning of things *grins evilly* _

_I sort of had it figured that Naruto was holding back for a few reasons. One of those was because he thought Sasuke's brain just wasn't quite in the same place but then at the same time I do totally agree that Naruto not really taking it in says a lot about him as well. Thinking Sasuke wasn't happy about it was a good excuse for him not to really dwell on it again. But methinks things will begin to open up a little more after this chapter :)_

_Well your hopes were answered. Well _I _hope lol. I think he was pretty smart about it and went about it almost exactly as you said he should when he just bluntly put it out there. I smiled so big when I saw your review because that scene had already been done and I was so happy you wanted it to go that way. It alleviates the need for Naruto to wonder too much about Sasuke's motivations later on despite his little moment in the bathroom after the bedroom scene. Everything is out in the open more or less in that regard and for the moment both of them will be able to relax a little more knowing the score. And totally, they've already had moments where they just jumped in and nothing got resolved and it only created tension. I think at this point we needed to ease a lot of that tension and I'm hoping the talk they had, not to mention what happened afterwards, did exactly that. For now ;)_

_**Saby a – **__haha, hard to feel sorry for Naruto though *big grin*_

_**Guest – **__Here here! I think most of the tension has been resolved. Well the process for resolution has begun anyway lol._

_**Guest – **__I might have mentioned this but dialogue is my favourite thing. Especially where they are insulting each other and fighting in amusing sorts of ways. So happy you liked it :)_

_I'm pleasantly surprised that most people liked that Sasuke was the first one to rationalise and give in. Naruto was sort of the first one to begin admitting to feeling something but I hadn't really had a moment for him where he decided more was needed like I did for Sasuke. But with your review I can really understand why. I did think that Sasuke would have to have a logical (in his mind anyway) reason for what he was doing and make a conscious decision to stop what was happening now by making something more happen. It was by far the most important part of what was happening at the time I thought. But totally, it seemed to suit his character to go about it that way._

_And also, absolutely, Naruto didn't need much more of a push once Sasuke explained his theory. I think by that point he was ready to do just about anything once it seemed like Sasuke wanted to lol._

_**Titan – **__Thank you! I loves you too :)_

_**Sis – **__I hope it was a good embarrassed *looks hopeful*_


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